Runaway train
by FieldOfEternalSnow
Summary: They met at the station. He didn't know his name or anything about him and yet they continued to meet. Until one of them fell in love. But are they ever meant to be more than strangers waiting for a train. KakaNaru. Rated M for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

**Man this is one of those things where I think I'm having a normal moment, just chilling on the balcony having a smoke and listening to music, and then suddenly BAMM. I'm standing with a half smoked cigarette, music still blasting in my ears and my mind going "Naruto.. Iruka.. Kakashi.. train station.. meeting him there and... etc..etc.." And then I throw away all my homework and spend the rest of the day writing this.

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_I glance at my watch for probably the hundredth time since I got here. At this point I'm not sure if it's to see when you are coming or when my train is leaving. I keep thinking about the first time we met._

"...se me."

Naruto was sitting at a bench near his platform, loud music blasting away his already damaged hearing. Iruka kept telling him that turning the volume up so loud would eventually cause him to go deaf but he chose not to listen to it. He knew his guardian meant well but he preferred his music at this level. Going deaf was a small price to pay to get away from it all. The loud noises of the trains. The crying tantrum throwing kids who seemed to grow like fungus in large crowds, not noticeable until they were there full force and then completely unwanted and certainly not welcome.

"...cuse me."

The hurtful comments from his class mates. The damn shrieking of the stupid teme's fangirl club. Oh yes going deaf was surely not so high a price to escape all that, if he went deaf he wouldn't have to hear any of it.

"Excuse me."

Naruto was jolted back to reality when he felt a presence looming over him. Glancing up he was met with the most shocking, terrifying and all in all most gorgeous sight he'd ever seen in all his 17 years.

The first thing he noticed was the shockingly silver mop of hair that seemed to completely defy gravity without any help from such things as hair-gel or the like. Naruto thought for one split second that the guy must be old but then he saw the rest of him. He was tall and would have looked awfully skinny if it wasn't for the well toned muscles clearly visible through the black long sleeved t-shirt he was wearing, even the loose fitting jeans managed to draw attention to his well shaped legs. And that was only half of it. The guy was wearing a bandanna with some kind of a leaf symbol over his left eye, making his unruly hair tilt slightly more in that direction and for some strange reason, that Naruto couldn't figure out, he was wearing a black surgical mask with a scarecrow symbol on it. _'Must be one of those germa-phobes, afraid to catch the plague in crowded places.'_ Naruto thought. But even though more than half of the guy's face was covered by cloth it was still the most damn sexy face Naruto had ever seen. If he hadn't already known since he hit puberty that he was gay Naruto sure would now.

When the guy just continued to stand there Naruto got his thoughts back out of the gutter and pulled one earplug out of his ear.

"I'm sorry?" Naruto's eyes turned upwards as the guy stopped leaning in front of his face and stood up to his full hight. Oh yes the guy was very tall. The stranger smirked, at least that's what his eye showed, the mask didn't reveal anything.

"Now that I finally have your attention there's only one thing I'd like to know." The silver haired god droned out in a lazy baritone with so much raw sexiness laced in it that it would surely melt the hearts and underwear of any female within a 50 foot radius, probably some mens to. Despite that Naruto didn't give in so easily, he'd been approached countless of times before by guys. Scouting agents looking for the next teen idol, agents wanting to recruit him to work at some host club or another and general perverts who were just looking for a "good time" like they were prone to put it, and this guy certainly didn't look like he belonged in the first two categories.

Naruto never bought any of it. Sure he didn't look so bad if he did say so himself. He was wearing a black t-shirt with another orange long sleeved one underneath, loose fitting black jeans that hung a bit low without having more than half of his underwear showing like some other boys and to top it off he was wearing his goggles, making his spiky hair stand more up. They were pretty old and worn out since he'd had them ever since he was a kid, they'd used to be green but he'd dyed them black when he'd gotten older. He wasn't very tall but he was well built, thanks to his guardian who taught martial arts along with some book classes in a grade school. He guessed all the commotion about his appearance had something to do with his natural blond hair and blue eyes along with the whisker like scars on his face.

To give the guy some credit Naruto waited until he finished what he was going to say before he'd give his answer. Sexiest man alive or not Naruto wasn't about to go anywhere with a stranger, he just wasn't that kind of a guy. Which perfectly explained his lack of a love life, he'd never been in a relationship before and he'd never go for a one night stand. He had good reasons to want to know about the people he associated with, except for a few odd cases that he liked to call his friends most people who learned his name would automatically either turn away in fright or disgust or be all in his face with mean words or pity, and he quite frankly didn't need any of those things.

And so Naruto continued to look at this weird stranger before his eyes wondering just what the guy wanted, he didn't have to wait long.

"Is that seat taken?" The baritone droned on again.

"I'm sorry?" It took Naruto a few seconds to process what the guy had said, he'd been expecting something else.

"The space of the bench currently occupied by what looks to be your bag." The guy said with a smile. Like he'd just been a big help.

Naruto responded defensively out of old habit with something that almost came naturally for him. Sarcasm.

"Why yes it is. You see I didn't really want to sit here in the first place but my bag insisted so I have to accompany it."

The guy didn't even flinch when he replied. "You know, you looked a lot cuter before you opened your mouth." Naruto was going to retort when the guy continued. "So as long as your bag occupies that spot it's ok?"

"I guess." He wasn't at all certain what the stranger meant by that. That is until the guy picked up his bag, sat down so close to Naruto that he was practically touching him all over his side, Naruto's other side getting uncomfortably close to the smelly old man to his left, and then plopped the blonds backpack in his own lap. Naruto rolled his eyes at the man when he just kept smiling at him with that damn beautiful eye.

"Jeez I was just joking but you could have been a little bit nicer about that." He mumbled reaching for his backpack. "Just give me the bag."

"Oh no. Wouldn't want to upset your bag now would I, since it wanted to sit here and all."

That proved it, the guy was way to weird for his own good. Drop dead gorgeous but way to weird to be worth it. Naruto decided to just let it go and stuck his earplug back in his ear again, drowning out anything else the guy might possibly have to say. The heat pressed against his side wasn't going anywhere though and it was doing very interesting things to Naruto's libido. And he sure had some built up tension considering he was a healthy 17 year old with not much experience. Not for the first time in his life he cursed the fact that he had to wait for an hour and a half for his next train home. It was still about 40 minutes until his train left.

x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x

_I don't know when or how we actually started to get along. You drove me crazy at first and I would actually dread the time I would have to wait for that damn train. And then, without even realizing it, I started rushing here. Wanting to meet you. Practically staking out the bench if it was already occupied in the hope that who ever was sitting there would just bloody move already so I could wait for you there like usual. It was on one of those occasions that I saw a new side of you._

Naruto was standing up against the low wall of what the designers of the train station probably intended to be an oasis for the weary travelers but was in fact just a bunch of dried up and shriveled plants highlighted by a cracked and faded wall that reached up to Naruto's lower back. If anything it would just make the travelers even more depressed. Naruto didn't like this train station, he much preferred the newer one close to his school or the friendly one near his home. He just didn't have much of a choice in coming here. He lived in a suburb with Iruka and this was the only train route he could take. It was the only train station that had another train going anywhere near his school. It didn't bother him so much in the morning when he rode the train with his friends, Kiba, Shikamaru and Chouji, the wait was only around 40 minutes. It was different in the afternoon because his friends all had club activities then so they didn't leave at the same time as Naruto, who preferred to not join a club with a bunch of people who didn't really like him and instead always headed home early to help out at the youth center.

They didn't live in a rich neighborhood but they still had a nice house provided by the school Iruka worked at where they lived with Genma, Iruka's boyfriend and co-worker at the neighborhood youth center. They had founded the center together along with another friend of theirs, Raidou, in memory of their friend Hayate, who had been stabbed to death while out one night. Although the area wasn't really unsafe it was none the less a much needed safe place for young teens who had no where else to go. It also gave support and opportunity to those who didn't get it elsewhere. Raidou and Genma mainly ran it but Iruka spent a lot of his free time there after he finished teaching. Iruka could pretty much turn the worst trouble maker into a mewling kitten with enough effort and everyone loved him. Naruto should know, he used to be a pretty wild kid himself before Iruka picked him up off the street and gave him a stable home along with someone who was always there when he ever needed anything. It was also one of the reasons Naruto liked helping out at the youth center. To give the same kind of stability to other kids who, just like he'd done, were using unacceptable means to get any hint of attention.

Naruto was jolted back to the present when a very familiar baritone spoke next to his ear. How the hell did the guy always manage to get so close to him that he was nearly breathing down his neck without him noticing it.

"Ah those bastards. Just sitting on that bench without a care in the world for you and your school bag."

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed as he violently turned around to face the man.

"Mahh. Just chill out gaki, you looked like you wanted to make them spontaneously combust with the glare you were sending them. They steal your seat or something?"

"N-No. I wasn't really glaring, I'm just tired and..." Naruto mumbled and then stopped when a foam cup was pushed in his face. "Huh?" Was all the reaction he could muster.

"Coffee." The taller guy droned in a bored voice but his eye was smiling with the same humor filled look it had when they first met. "You know, you drink it and it can keep you warm and wake you up."

"Wow I had noooo idea." Naruto said while rolling his eyes. After a moments hesitation he accepted the cup and stared at it for a while.

"It's not poisoned you know." The silver haired stud said, as an after thought he added. "And I haven't spit in it, licked the lid or anything like that if that's what you're thinking."

"Of course not." Naruto had indeed been thinking along those lines but there was no need to let the other guy know that. Finally after taking a sip of the hot drink and finding out that it was in fact his favorite coffee drink, how the hell did the guy know, he looked at the man again. "Thank you." He almost whispered.

He wasn't used to random acts of kindness and certainly not expecting it from a weird guy who he only met at the train station, had an annoying habit of calling him 'brat' and, with no thought as to if it bothered Naruto or not, would pull up and actually read a brightly covered porn novel right next to him while they chatted.

If Naruto wasn't so used to mean looks and comments thrown in his direction he'd have immediately stood up and proclaimed very loudly that he did _not_ know the guy the first time that book had come into view. It wasn't really a lie though, he didn't really know the guy at all except from the conversations they'd had while waiting for Naruto's train and that hadn't really revealed anything about either of them. The guy didn't seem inclined to talk about himself and Naruto wasn't about to go blabbing about his life either. For all he knew the guy could be some psycho who'd start following him around if he knew where he went to school or where he lived or something. The guy hadn't even told him his name and Naruto hadn't asked. Asking for the guy's name would require him to reveal his own and although he could probably get away with just giving his first name or use Iruka's last name like he had permitted him to do he decided it would be best to just avoid it all together. When his true name did come out, and it was bound to do sooner or later, it would only cause more trouble than if he had been honest from the beginning.

The rest of the wait had been spent jokingly insulting one another and chatting about nothing in particular while Naruto sipped his coffee drink. As Naruto's train sped away from the platform he could see a mop of silver hair making it's way to the other side of the station. Not for the first time he wondered where the guy was coming from and where he was going next.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

_It wasn't long after that that I realized I had fallen completely head over heals in love with you. I don't even know your name or anything practical about you and I still love you. After today things are going to change drastically though. I think this is for the best. Before either one of us.. before I fall in to deep. This is the last time I'm taking the train home at this time, I've decided to join the martial arts club with Kiba so I won't have to see you here anymore. But before I never see you again I'm going to ask you one thing. I'm going to ask for your name._

Naruto was again sitting on the same old bench, he was nervously tapping his foot and glancing at his watch every few minutes. It was an old watch Iruka and Genma had given him for his thirteenth birthday, the strap had been replaced but the childish green frog behind the glass was still the same, two tongues going from it's mouth in the center, moving between the flies behind the numbers. He knew it was childish but he loved that watch.

He didn't notice the noise of the people moving around the station, not even the crying of the kids, there was only one voice he was waiting to hear and he didn't want to miss it by listening to his music player. He hadn't used it at the station for some time now, preferring to be ready to chat with the silver haired masked man when he showed up.

"What you need to pee or something?" The voice droned from behind him.

"How on earth do you do that!" Naruto snapped at the guy as the man came around the bench and like the first time they met, picked up his back pack and sat back down with it. Naruto had long since learned not to ask for it back, the guy never gave it to him until it was time for the blond to leave.

"I'm a ninja." The sole visible eye closed in an arc as the guy, most likely, smiled.

"Yeah and I'm a nine tailed demon." Naruto threw back as he fought the urge to role his eyes, he didn't have to worry about it for too long because suddenly he was staring crossed eyed at a familiar shape of a foam cup in his face. How the guy had any idea when Naruto was tired and in need of coffee he didn't know. It was the eighth time the guy had brought him his favorite coffee. Unlike the first time Naruto took it right away and started drinking it, an almost silent thank you escaping his lips. The guy never drank anything with him though, he'd never taken off the mask and he was always wearing that bandanna over the same eye. Naruto had noticed a scar running from his cheek and up under it once, making him think that maybe the guy had lost his eye. It only made the guy even more fascinating.

"So what's with the mask and thing anyway?" Naruto couldn't help but ask. He'd never get a chance to after today. Of course the person asked didn't give a straight answer.

"I'm a ninja, I have to cover my face so people don't recognize me." If Naruto was reading his eye correctly the guy was actually smirking.

"What's with the scars?" The man shot back.

Naruto hated nothing more than to be reminded of the event that lead to his scars. He'd sensed a similar kind of feeling from his companion when he asked about the mask so he followed his example and answered half jokingly.

"I'm a demon, it's the mark of my ancestors." The guy would have no idea how close to the truth that remark had been. He quickly decided to change the subject.

"So if I ask you your favorite color or something like that you'll give me another stupid answer?" he looked at the taller man again. He'd concluded that he was probably around the same age as Iruka, somewhere between 25 to 27. About ten years older than him give or take.

"Why don't you just try and find out?"

"Alright, what is your favorite color?" Naruto felt stupid while he asked. He felt even more annoyed when the guy answered.

"What you can't see by my all black attire that I just love pink." The guy leaned even closer to Naruto, who was pushed nearly into the lap of the woman sitting on the other side of him. The woman obviously annoyed at the loss of personal space stood up and left. As Naruto watched her leave the man returned the same question to him. Unlike the obvious liar next to him Naruto decided to answer truthfully to that one.

"Orange. And unlike someone in the vicinity I'm not making childish lies, how old are you anyway?" He retorted at the man.

"65, can't you tell by my gray hair?" The guy evaded the question again. "And you?"

"17. Turning 18 next October. Again not a lie." He said as he glanced at his watch again, it was time for him to leave. As he took his bag from the mans hands the guy gave him a smile.

"Any more questions you'd like to ask?"

Naruto started making his way down the platform, he turned around and looked back at the man he was running away from. "Just one." He called back. "What's your name?"

The guy paused for only a moment before he called back. "It's Kakashi, and it's the truth this time."

Naruto smiled. That was all he wanted to know. He turned around and darted into his train, the returned question drowned out by the sound of the train and the people getting on and off.

He got a spot near the center of the train where he could hold on to one of the leather straps hanging from the iron pole. As he looked back at the platform when his train started moving he saw the man he loved standing right behind the white line that you shouldn't cross when the train was in motion. He watched him get smaller and smaller until the train turned the corner and he was lost from his view for the last time.

_Kakashi. The name fit him perfectly.

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**So.. should I continue this? should I leave it at that? Should I stop my over active brain from coming up with new stories (I currently have 5 not including the once in progress here) and just get my ass to do the homework I'm supposed to finish and focus on writing late - early and savior... **

**I have some ideas about how to continue this story but it was originally thought of as a one shot so I'll leave it open to debait. Therefore the rating will be T unless, if I continue, I decide to throw my brain in the gutter and, dare I say it, write anything lemmony. and the status will stand as in progress.  
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	2. Chapter 2

**Alright. This was written well into the night, proofread by me and posted at around 4 am in the morning.. probably not one of my smartest ideas but what the heck... hope you like it anyways  


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x.x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x.x

_I am seriously having a day from hell! If I believed in karma I'd have to say that I must have done something very, very bad in a previous life to deserve this..._ _Hah! Right. Like I haven't done enough bad shit in this life already to deserve it. _A little dark voice in the back of my head ads. "_Maybe you got it from him." I fought the urge to clutch at my chest. Iruka's right, I need to stop thinking like that. What I need to do now is wait for Kiba, try not to think depressing thoughts and hopefully turn this day around somehow. Hopefully he'll get here soon to distract me from the urge of running to the train station and getting on the next available train in the hopes of reaching Suna station in time to see Kakashi. _

_x.x.x.x._ That morning _.x.x.x.x_

The day had started of wrong from the beginning. Sometime during the night Naruto's alarm clock had decided to just die. Probably with a little help from the constant beating it received from it's owner every morning.

"Narutooo!" Came the holler of his toothpick sucking 'dad' "Get your ass out of bed now! Kiba's here to pick you up... and if he's here before you're out of bed you must be really late.. HEY Oww!"

As Naruto scrambled out of bed in a flurry of tangled sheets and pillows, grabbing any article of clothing that looked, or smelled, remotely clean, he listened to the loud voice of his other dad scolding the first. His voice sounded like he was annoyed but if you knew Iruka well you knew he was only joking.

"Don't talk bad about Kiba when he's standing right there." Iruka said.

"You hit me! This is domestic violence you know." Genma whined.

"Right, more like cruelty to animals if you ask me."

As Naruto came running down the stairs, grabbing the lunch box held out to him by Iruka, he watched the little argument between his two guardians unfold.

"So you saying I can talk bad about Kiba when he's not here." Genma grinned around the ever present toothpick.

"Oi!" Kiba began, Naruto knew that if his friend got too into it then they'd definitely miss the train for sure. So as he grabbed his friends arm and pulled him out the open door he couldn't help hearing the end of the "fight".

"Ow!"

"No you will not talk bad about _any_ of Naruto's friends."

"You hit me again!"

Naruto and Kiba chatted aimlessly as they jogged out the street towards the train station. Kiba lived in the house directly behind his and they'd been friends ever since Naruto moved in with Iruka and Genma when he was 9. The Inuzuka family had a small animal hospital in their house and their yard was always full of dogs they had rescued, including one that Kiba had found behind a dumpster and decided to keep for himself. Someone had thought it would be funny to spray paint the puppy red, which was the reason the young Kiba had named him Akamaru. The Inuzuka family were always very nice to Naruto and his two fathers, especially after Iruka had given them permission to extend their fence over into their yard to give the dogs more room to run around and play. Both of the families always joked that they were in the rescue business but they weren't so far from the truth in saying that.

"So they always fight like that in the morning or what?" Kiba asked around a half eaten sandwich Iruka had given him.

"Nahh, they're only joking.. or flirting.. I really don't know which to tell you the truth. One minute they're throwing insults and light punches and the next they're making out like a bunch of horny dogs." Naruto grinned back at his friend. "I forgot my breakfast once and when I got back they were practically all _over_ the kitchen." He emphasized his words by eyeing his friends bread.

"Oh.. Oh.. I did not need to know that." Kiba said mournfully as he thrust the rest of his sandwich at his blond companion. "Here you take it."

"_Yes!_ Sweet." Naruto said as he wolfed down his won over food.

Once they got to the train station Naruto was struck by his first minor disaster. They'd met Shikamaru and Chouji at the entrance like they usually did and were making their way down to the platform. In his hurry that morning Naruto hadn't given himself time to tie his shoes and as the four of them descended the stairs one of them must have stepped on a loose lace because Naruto suddenly went flying down the last six steps. Of course his friends thought this was just hilarious. Kiba laughed so hard he was in danger of falling down the stairs himself. Shikamaru mumbled his customary "So troublesome." But it was said with a smile and Chouji snickered as he offered the blond a hand to get up.

"What the hell guys. Sure just laugh at my near death experience." Naruto huffed.

"Oh stop being such a drama queen. I thought you were one of those manly gay guys, not the sissy once." Kiba shot at him between fits of laughter.

"Shut it dog breath." Naruto snapped back.

"Blondy." Kiba replied.

"You're just jealous of my good looks, canine freak."

"Well.. well you're adopted!" Kiba said for the lack of anything better to use.

"What's that got to do with anything? Considering the genes you got you're parents would have been better off adopting as well." And with that Naruto ran into their train that had just stopped at the platform.

He'd hit his head on the floor but it didn't hurt much and other than that he'd gotten off pretty well, he'd banged his knee on one of the steps but it wasn't too painful, but when he reached up to adjust his goggles he felt a sharp pain in his index finger. Pulling his hand back down he saw blood oozing out of a newly formed cut. "Oh hell no!" Naruto ripped his goggles off and sure enough one of the lenses was broken. "Aww maaan." Naruto mumbled sadly.

"What's up?" Kiba came walking up to him, Shikamaru and Chouji not far behind, their previous argument long forgotten.

"The glass broke." Kiba leaned over Naruto's shoulder to inspect the cause of his friends distress. Kiba and Naruto had always been close to each other in hight but Naruto had stopped growing at 166 cm when they were 15 while Kiba took an unexpected growth spurt, making it easy for him to look over his pals shoulder with his 175 cm. Despite teasing him about being a drama queen Kiba knew that only a very few certain things could upset his best friend. This being one of them.

"Oh the goggles." Kiba said quietly. "Here let me see them." He said as he reached over his friend and took the headgear, inspecting them more closely. Kiba knew how important this was to Naruto, it had been the last thing his real parents had given him. He looked at the now broken glass of one of the lenses, the rest seemed to be fine.

"It should be alright. I can ask Hinata to take a look at them if you like, she's in the craft club and they work with glass there as well. Maybe she can make a new lens for it, or two it's probably best to replace the other one as well." Kiba handed the goggles back to his friend.

"You think she could do that?" Naruto looked at his friend hopefully.

"Never hurts to ask."

Hinata was Kiba's friend and secret crush from some of his classes. Their school allowed juniors and seniors to specialize in a chosen field and also had a big selection of after school clubs and activities.

Hinata and another friend of Kiba's, Shino, were all in the biology and science department together. Kiba was aiming to be a vet like the rest of his family, no surprise there Naruto thought. He wasn't sure about Hinata or Shino, though the boy did seem to have a creepy obsession with bugs. Naruto was in the art department along with Shikamaru. He loved to draw and do graphic design and Shikamaru just said it was too troublesome to do anything that required reading books and writing essays, opting instead to lazily paint pictures of cloudy skies and the like. Chouji was in the culinary arts department for obvious reasons. They didn't have many classes all together but they always met at lunch and when they had any free time.

_x.x.x.x._

_Sitting on this damn bench outside my school is just reminding me even more of that down right sinful man. Even though I have my music blasting loudly in my ears I keep expecting to hear your voice right next to me. Making my heartbeat flutter.. along with another part of my body. As I close my eyes I can remember every detail of our last meeting. Your voice as you called out your name, the sight of you standing outside my train like you were just on the verge of coming in after me and then the vision of you fading into the distance. Hopefully over time you will fade away from my memory just like you did in that moment._

Naruto was standing by his locker chatting amiably with Shikamaru before they had to head over to drawing class when disaster struck again in the form of a very loud and sometimes annoying pink haired girl. Usually Naruto had nothing at all against Sakura but when a certain Teme was in the vicinity the usually stoic and nice girl tended to morph into a squealing banshee, causing public safety to crash down to zero as she practically beat down anyone that was in the way of her and her goal.

Naruto was one of those unlucky casualties this time. He'd just opened his locker to get rid of some of his books and to look for his sketch book, which he couldn't find anywhere for the life of him, when he suddenly heard a loud shriek of "Sasuke- kuuuun." And then his locker door came crashing in his face as the banshee ran into it on her way to the most popular guy in school. As he rubbed his bruised nose Naruto could hear his friend quietly chuckle behind him.

"Oh you stuff it! This is sooo not turning out to be my day.. I never should have gone out of bed this morning."

"Troublesome indeed." His friend agreed while stretching his arms over his head lazily. "Well can't be all bad, it's bound to get better. Find your sketch book yet?"

"No." Naruto sulked, he'd probably forgotten the book at home in all his panic that morning. Having drawing class with Anko, who in Naruto's opinion should probably be locked up somewhere where she could be taken care of by people in white coats, without his book did not sound at all good to him.

She was just plain creepy and seemed to love nothing more than to torment Naruto during class. He could never forget the time when they were drawing a nude female model, something that hadn't fazed him as much as the other guys seeing how he had no interest in girls like that. The picture was full size and he'd been standing at his easel doing pretty well when Anko had suddenly materialized behind him. She looked at his picture thoughtfully and then back at the model. After doing this for a few moments she seemed to come to some kind of a conclusion and, to Naruto's sheer embarrassment, announced loudly over the whole class just what was wrong with his picture.

"Ah! Her boobs are a bit off, you sketched them too saggy. They're more like this." And then Anko proceeded to draw the breasts like they should be. **1)**

Naruto was proven right when they got to their class. After nervously telling Anko that he didn't have anything to sketch in she beamed at him and told him that was perfectly fine, he could just model for the rest of the class instead. And so Naruto found himself sitting in the middle of the room on an uncomfortably hard chair in some ridiculous pose, after much pleading and whining on his part he'd gotten to keep his pants and t-shirt on without having to explain why he was so adamant in keeping them that way. Anko had teased him mercilessly and tried to get him to at least take his top off but he insistently refused. The scars on his face were a good enough reminder, to everyone who knew, about his past. He didn't need to reveal the other one as well. He could see some of his classmates glaring at him and whispering already.

_x.x.x.x._

_I glance at my watch absentmindedly. It shouldn't be long until Kiba gets here and then we only have to wait for about a half an hour until the martial arts club starts practicing. I told Genma yesterday that I would be at the youth center later than usual from now on since I'd wanted to be in this club with Kiba and then go home with my friends. Told him the train ride seemed like less of a hassle when the guys where with me. Even though the first train only takes 15 minutes and the second one around half an hour the wait in between is just ridiculously long. That wasn't really the hassle though, the problem was my ever growing interest in a certain man that was only bound to backfire horribly in my face once he learned who I was._

Naruto was jolted out of his thoughts when a hand landed on his shoulder. For a split second he thought he was back at the train station and the hand belonged to someone else but when he looked up he was met with the face of his friend who was trying to not grin and look slightly offended. When Naruto had turned off his music player and pulled out his headphones his friend jokingly whined.

"Narutooo, I thought you were ignoring me. I called you at least three times and you didn't react."

The blond looked up at his taller friend while they started walking to the sport facilities.

"You're a bit too big to still act like that you know." He said teasingly. "So what's the club like anyway? A lot of people in it?" He asked his friend hoping it didn't have too many people.

"Nahh. Don't worry about it." Kiba assured him. "It doesn't seem like a lot of people are interested in the club, we only have a selected few. Right now there are 5 but with you joining we'll be 6 so it's going to be a lot better now when we fight one on one because it'll be an equal number."

"Did you hit your head on your math book or something.. I didn't know you knew what an equal number was." Naruto joked, feeling relieved that the club didn't have more people.

"Oh ha ha mister joker. I'm taking more math than you are." Kiba retorted.

"Yeah that's true." The blond decided to give his friend the credit he deserved. "What about the instructors, they any good?"

"For the most part. One of them.. well both of them actually.. are pretty weird but you'll get used to it pretty soon, or just learn to ignore it."

"How so?" Naruto asked intrigued.

"Well Maito sensei has some very.. interesting point of views that he likes to shout in the general direction of anything that even looks like it can move. Plus he can be very.. emotional. The other one usually doesn't show up until an hour late and.. well you'll just have to wait and see."

_x.x.x.x.x_

"Get used to _that!_" Naruto wheezed out as he ran circle number who knows how much around the field. "Learn to _ignore it_." He repeated the words his friend had used earlier. "How on earth is that possible! Have you even _seen _the guy." Naruto knew his best friend could be pretty oblivious but he did not understand how Kiba could ever think _anyone_ could ignore a grown up, muscular man in a full body spandex suit. A very green spandex suit. And if that wasn't enough he had the most ridiculous bowl haircut Naruto had ever seen and eyebrows that looked to be hairier than some of the dogs his friend kept. And if _that_ wasn't enough the guy actually had a little mini-self running after him. Plus the guy was a complete maniac. He'd started of by hugging Naruto so tightly that he'd been afraid of suffocating while screaming loudly in his ear about something that had to do with power of youth or something, he was to busy trying to gasp for air and struggle out of the death grip to follow what the guy was saying. After that they had changed into their sport clothes and started the "warm up" which apparently took about an hour, or up until the other sensei bothered to show up and start teaching them.

The rest of the club members seemed fairly normal. Naruto recognized Neji Hyuga since he'd seen him with Hinata a few times. His girlfriend Ten Ten was a member of the club as well it seemed and though they would both like to be able to deny it the mini-sensei turned out to be their childhood friend Lee. The last member apart from Kiba was a guy Naruto had seen around the art department a few times, his name was Sai, he seemed to be alright even though he lacked a few social skills.

_x.x.x.x._

Kakashi had been wandering around the train station for about 10 minutes now and there was still no sign of the spiky blond. He supposed the guy could have just missed his train but something about his behavior the day before was making him think that his absence here was intentional. The boy had been more quiet than usual and he'd asked more direct questions then he'd ever done before. To Kakashi it had seemed like he was expecting never to see him again. He hadn't known how to approach the blond at first or how far they were ever going to get. He was beginning to think he'd made a mistake now.

He decided to wait a bit longer and see if the boy showed up but after waiting for an hour he gave up for the day. He made his way outside and quickly headed for the parking lot where he had parked his motorcycle, he'd try again tomorrow. Looking at his watch he concluded that it was way to late to drive to work now so he headed home instead.

_x.x.x.x._

Two hours later Naruto and Kiba where walking back to the train station near their school along with Shikamaru and Chouji. Shikamaru was a member of the chess club and, what had come as a complete shock to Naruto, Chouji was actually in some bug appreciation group. When asked about it he'd shyly said that he liked butterflies.

Naruto was sore in places he didn't even know he had thanks to the green beast of Konoha High. He'd started calling his sensei that in his mind about 15 minutes into the practice. The other sensei hadn't shown up at all so they'd spent well over an hour running and doing warm up exercises until the teacher had finally let them do some fighting. Naruto and Kiba had paired up and, being equally talented in martial arts, had a pretty even fight.

Naruto was a bit nervous as they waited at Suna station. He kept expecting Kakashi to jump out from any direction at any moment. The hour and a half went by a lot faster than it did before but Naruto still couldn't help but feel a bit depressed about it. It just wasn't the same as talking to Kakashi here every day and he was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, he'd made a mistake when he decided not to see the guy again. Maybe he wouldn't mind who he was after all. A dark voice in the back of his head didn't agree. '_Of course he would care. Everyone did at some lever or another._'

On their way home Naruto had his worst and final disaster of the day. Oh yes that was indeed some slimy pervert feeling him up on the train. Having had enough Naruto decided he didn't have to stand for this, he quickly turned around and gave the guy a well aimed knee in the groin. At least he'd finally gotten some of the stress out of his system.

x.x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x.x

**1) **I would just like to say that this _did_ actually happen at my old school when a girl I know took a model drawing class. The poor girl was _horrified_ when the _male_ teacher said that and then started drawing the breasts on her picture. Thankfully when I took that class semester after her the teacher was female and the model was a guy who never stripped down to more than just his boxers.

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**Just getting one things straight here. I have never been to what you would probably call the typical high school you see in the movies and therefore I am not even going to **_**try **_**to write a story that would accurately fit into one since I have noooo idea how they function. Where I come from you take 1. grade to 10. grade in the same school and then go on to some type of a high school where you get to pick a department like art, cooking, social studies etc. etc. and after graduating from there at around 20 years old you go to a university. So this story will mainly be based off of that kind of a school system but I'm still trying to get it to have that "High school" feel to it.**

**Thanks for reading up to this point and, again, I hope you liked it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Dear Oubli. Your question about Kakashi's involvement with Naruto will be answered sometime along the way... like the plan is now it's probably not going to be revealed until near the end.

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_x.x.x.x.x_

_x.x.x.x.x_

_I left you that day. For the last time in my life I left you._

It had been a few days since Naruto had left Kakashi at the train station and had that horrible day. Things were slowly going back to normal for him. He spent his days going to school, the martial arts club and then home to eat dinner before he went to the youth center to help out. Naruto still hadn't met the other instructor for his club, the guy seemed to be skipping without even informing his co-instructor.

Gai sensei, like he had insisted on being called, had been making them run and do warm ups very enthusiastically but he'd always gotten a bit restless when an hour had passed and there was no sign of the other guy. It only lasted for about 2 days though. After that Gai sensei had, probably on his own accord, gotten it into his head that his friend must be chasing after a "Precious person" and the last hour of their club time was spent doing even more grueling warm up exercises while the green beast shouted mushy things about the "Passion of youth" and "True love." all the while encouraging his students to follow their other seinsei's lead and find the love of their life or something like that. Lee had hung on to every word his sensei said and had started sprouting very similar stuff to poor Sakura every time he saw her. Naruto was surprisingly learning to ignore them both. Neji and Ten Ten weren't as lucky though since they were the only couple in the club. They were pretty much afraid to be seen within 10 feet of each other because Gai would start crying and shout even more loudly just how wonderful love was.

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto was sitting in the cafeteria waiting for his friends to come back with their food. Naruto always brought lunch with him from home no matter how dorky everyone kept telling him it was. The lady working in the cafeteria was apparently one of the people who hated his guts enough to go past glaring and whispering about him. The food he'd gotten from her always seemed to be slightly off and Naruto had opted to be a complete dork instead of being poisoned to death by a crazy lunch lady.

"Uhm.. Naru-Naruto." Came the timid voice of Hinata. She had just taken a seat at his table.

"Mmm?" Naruto hummed around his bread as he looked over to her.

"Uhm.." Hinata fumbled with her hands a little before she dug into her bag for something. Naruto felt sorry for the girl for being so incredibly shy. They had known each other for at least a year now and the girl still looked scared to death while talking to him. After a while Hinata pulled up something covered in cloth and handed it to him. "Uhm.. He-here. I fixed it for you."

Naruto grabbed the package from her and unwrapped it quickly. When the cloth had been pulled away Naruto stared at his goggles dumbfounded.

Hinata squirmed in the seat across from him. "I.. I didn't know if you would like it.. maybe I shouldn't have, but Kiba said you'd like it.. I'm really sorry.." She stuttered nervously.

"It's fantastic!" Naruto cut her off. "I love it. Thank you so much." Naruto couldn't stop staring at his black goggles that now had two orange tinted lenses instead of the original green tinted once.

He was still staring at them when Kiba and the guys came and sat down with them.

"Oh you gave it to him already?" Kiba grinned. "Pretty cool huh, Naruto?"

"It's amazing!" Naruto exclaimed as he eagerly put them on. They matched his black and orange t-shirt perfectly. Naruto had taken the plain black shirt and painted orange swirls on it himself. His friends used to tease him on his strange taste in clothes but it was done jokingly, Naruto always looked good in his outfits, that more often than not were partially designed by himself.

"What class do we have next?" Shikamaru asked Naruto while he leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed.

"Don't you have your time table with you?" Naruto asked absentmindedly while he munched on the rest of his food. "Why don't you just check yourself."

"Can't be bothered. Too troublesome." His lazy friend mumbled.

Naruto rolled his eyes and started looking for his own in his bag but stopped when Chouji answered for him.

"We have philosophy next." Their kind hearted fellow supplied while he plowed through his second tray of food.

Philosophy along with English was the only subject all of them had together and were therefore among their favorite classes, even though they're philosophy teacher, Ibiki, was down right terrifying at times. They're English teacher, Asuma, on the other hand was one of their favorite teachers. He ignored the school rules completely and chain smoked through the whole class, every now and then chucking pieces of chalk and the occasional cigarette but at Shikamaru as he nodded off at his desk.

"Sweet!" Naruto and Kiba both said at the same time. With all their play fighting and friendly insults they very rarely admitted it but they were like twins or very close brothers sometimes. Thinking and acting in the exact same way.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

_I ran away. I watched you fade away into the distance. _

"Psst, Shikamaru." Naruto whispered to his friend behind him. Kiba was sitting to his right and Chouji behind him next to Shikamaru. "Shika?" Naruto tried a little louder. The only reaction he got was his friend opening one eye and giving him an annoyed stare with it.

"Lend me your text book please." Naruto put his hands together and gave his best look. A look that combined a dazzling smile, puppy dog eyes and the most innocent aura he could muster. All that was missing was the halo over his head and the demon tail from his back.

"And I'd like to do that because?" Shikamaru said with a grin of his own.

"Because I reeeaaallly don't want Ibiki to know I forgot mine again. And it's not like you're going to use yours, you'll just sleep through the class anyway."

"I don't have mine. It was too troublesome to get it from the locker so I just didn't. You're on your own." Shikamaru said as he closed his eye again.

"Traitor!" Naruto quietly snapped before he turned over to Kiba. "Oi, Kiba. Let me share your book will you?"

Kiba looked at him apologetically while he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry man, I forgot mine as well. I'm sharing with Hinata."

Naruto was about to curse his oldest friend when a monotonous voice spoke up to his left.

"You can share mine."

Naruto looked over and let his mouth loose before his mind could catch up.

"You can talk!" He stared dumbly at Shino. The guy was a bit weird if you wanted to be polite about it. He wore black sunglasses and a variety of high collared jackets or sweaters, Naruto wasn't sure he had ever seen his eyes or the lower part of his face since he'd met him a year ago and he certainly couldn't remember ever hearing him talk.

"Yes Naruto, I do have excellent vocal cords." Naruto wasn't sure but the never changing tone in Shino's voice sounded a bit offended.

"Uhh.." Naruto didn't really know what to do but he decided that sharing a textbook with Shino would be infinitely better than having Ibiki interrogate him about why he had forgotten his own. "Thanks!" Naruto said as cheerfully as he could while he scooted his desk closer to the bug boy.

As Ibiki walked in to the classroom Naruto thought he was pretty safe. That is until Ibiki turned away from the black board and pierced him with a fierce look.

"Naruto." The deep voice boomed. For his credit Ibiki was one of the people who were considerate enough to always call him by his given name. Some people just _loved_ to emphasize his surname, knowing full well that it made him feel uncomfortable.

"Any specific reason why you don't have your text book with you today?"

Naruto fought the urge to slowly droop under his desk. He looked all over the classroom trying to find some kind of escape, eyes finally landing on his dearest oldest friend who just so happened to be missing a text book as well. If Naruto noticed Kiba's death glare of doom he didn't show it. If he was going down his friend was going down with him.

"Hey! I'm not the only one." He said defensively. "Kiba doesn't have his either." Unfortunately for Naruto this didn't have the desired affect. Ibiki looked even more ominous.

"Are you implying that my observation skills are so bad that I don't see that Inuzuka is practically leaning all over his classmate to read her book." Naruto paled, until his teacher barked. "Inuzuka! Get your text book out of your bag now and stop harassing the poor girl.. you can do that after class if you still want to."

Kiba gave Naruto an even frostier glare as he reached into his bag and took out his book. To the teacher he said. "Shikamaru doesn't have his book either!"

Ibiki turned back to the black board mumbling. "Knowing him he's probably got it memorized already."

Ibiki wasn't the kind of teacher who would give you detention for not having your book or anything like that. He just loved to make his students nervous.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

_Left and forever would be the key words here. _

Naruto and Shikamaru had sculpting next with Kurenai sensei. She was one of those crazy artsy types, always wearing red contact lenses and different dresses she made by wrapping long strands of fabric around herself. Naruto liked her. She didn't pretend, spoke softly and rarely said anything but when she did it was always to encourage her students or give well deserved praises.

Naruto and Shikamaru set up their things, meaning Naruto got the paper boards they had to cover their tables with to keep them clean, got some clay for them to work with along with some water and finally some clay modeling tools, while Shikamaru made sure their seats weren't taken by sitting there. He didn't mind though, he'd always been pretty energetic and with all the running around he'd done recently at the club his stamina had only gone up.

"So any ideas what to make?" Naruto asked his friend. They had been given complete freedom for this days lesson and Naruto's mind was hitting a blank.

"Just do what ever, I can't be bothered to think for you as well." Shikamaru said as he slowly poked his clay with his tools.

"I don't know how you keep on living man. Soon enough you'll think it's too troublesome to breath... and believe me, your not my type so I won't be giving you mouth to mouth to keep you alive." Shikamaru only mumbled something Naruto didn't hear while he grinned at his lazy friend.

"Yeah, yeah same to you." He said as he took his music player out of his bag and got lost in the melody. He picked up his tools and began sculpting. Scraping away the clay he didn't need, hands molding the rest. Smoothing it over and wetting it when it was needed.

He'd been sculpting for a little over an hour when he suddenly realized just what his hands had been doing. His playlist had run out and he'd slowly blinked his eyes while his mind came back from it's trip away from reality, and then he just stared, frozen to the core.

Shikamaru, sensing that something was wrong with his friend, turned to see what was up. The first thing he noticed was his blond companion sitting stiff as a board, clutching the edges of his desk. Eyes staring at his table with a faraway look. And then Shikamaru saw what Naruto was staring at. On the table stood a little figure of a fox with nine tails striking the air. Before Shikamaru could react Naruto raised one shaking hand and brought it down hard on the sculpted clay, flattening it out.

"Why did I... Why did I... do that." He said shakily.

He'd had nightmares about this creature when he was younger, it wasn't until a year after he'd moved in with Iruka and Genma that they had finally started to recede but only after a lot of nights spent in the arms of those two mens as they clung on to him while he cried. He had no memory of the fateful night when that monster had entered his life and started tormenting his dreams, all he remembered was the image of the nine tailed fox. But of course he'd heard, everyone had heard and everyone knew.

Naruto rubbed his chest right over his wildly beating heart. _His_ wildly beating heart. He was having trouble breathing and he felt like the room was closing in on him. Shikamaru hadn't been close enough to Naruto when the blond first moved to their neighborhood to ever see him react this badly. When they had become more than just buddies at school Naruto had been mostly over his trauma thanks to Iruka and Genma. Up until now he'd only seen Naruto slightly uncomfortable when he was reminded too much of the incident, he always seemed pretty unfazed when people brought it up. Shikamaru, none the less, recognized the signs of a panic attack taking over his friend and after looking around the room for a few seconds he came up with the most suitable way to get Naruto out of the room before other people noticed it as well. He took one of his sharper tools and without even hesitating he stabbed it into his hand. He then grabbed Naruto by the upper arm and pulled him towards the door, making sure the other boy didn't see the blood on his hand. He did wave his wound at Kurenai though in explanation as he called out.

"Sensei I cut my hand. We're going to the infirmary."

The woman looked at them a bit surprised. "Both of you?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm feeling a bit faint." Shikamaru lied. "I'm not sure I'll make it all the way on my own."

"Alright, make sure to look after him then Naruto." Kurenai said as Shikamaru hauled his friend out of the room.

He didn't take his friend to infirmary though, he dragged Naruto straight outside and to some benches that were situated in a secluded area near some trees on the school grounds. He made the boy sit down before he put both hands on his shoulders, leaning in so their faces were at the same level.

"Naruto. Look at me!" Shikamaru said sternly. Naruto's eyes were directed at him but he could clearly see that the boy wasn't seeing him. He gave his friend a little shake. "Look at me! Focus on my eyes ok." Naruto finally blinked a few times and then stared into his friends brown eyes with his panic stricken blue. He was shaking all over and still gasping in air. Shikamaru grabbed the hand that he was frantically tearing at his shirt with, halting the movement.

"Alright now mimic my breathing ok? Just do as I do. Breath in" Shikamaru took a deep breath. "And then breath out." He exhaled slowly. He repeated this a few times until he could see that Naruto's breathing had evened out a bit. This was about all he could do for his friend now. They were good friends but Shikamaru didn't know this side of him well enough to be able to give him all the support he needed. He was going to look at his watch to see what time it was but decided to use another method.

"Naruto." He was glad to see his friend give a small nod signaling he'd heard him. "Tell me what time it is." The question might sound pretty ridiculous given the circumstances but Shikamaru knew what he was doing. Naruto looked blank for a moment before he slowly raised a shaking arm to look at his watch, the old childish watch that Iruka and Genma had given him. He stared at it before he finally spoke. His voice sounding a bit strained and far off. "It's.. it's about half past two." He said.

Alright, Shikamaru thought, Kiba should be getting out off class about now.

"Ok Naruto, I'm going to go and get Kiba. Can you sit here by yourself until he comes?"

Naruto nodded his head in agreement. He was feeling much calmer now thanks to his friend.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

_I got your name, my last look of you and some great memories._

Naruto was still shaking a little when Kiba met up with him outside the school. Shikamaru had told the other brunette just what had happened before he'd gone of to the infirmary to get his hand checked out and so Kiba had rushed over to Naruto as fast as he could.

"Are you alright man? Feeling better?" Kiba knew better than anyone about the blonds situation and feelings since they had been best friends for years, living next to each other and hanging out all the time, and he hated seeing his friend upset about anything. And this sure as hell wasn't just anything. Kiba put his hand on his friends shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Yeah I'm.." Knowing better than to try to lie to his friend he stopped himself. "It's.. it's getting there. Shikamaru helped me" He finished.

Kiba, who had started to give Naruto a look that said 'don't even try to mess with me', relaxed a bit.

"That's good man, that's good. You up for the club or do you just wanna skip it today and go home? I'll come with you."

"Nah it's ok. I think I could use the exercise." Naruto said thankful for his friends concern.

"Ok, if you say so. But you are telling Iruka about this when we get home." Kiba said with a stern look and before Naruto could protest he continued. "You know you can't keep this from him Naruto. What if it happens again? Then what? For Christ's sake man I still remember how bad you could get when we first met and if you just talk to Iruka about it then maybe you two can work it out."

Naruto rubbed his eyes, careful not to touch the scars on his cheeks. "I promise I'll tell him if anything else happens ok? Just not now, not this time, I don't want to worry him over this if it turns out to be a one time thing. Just promise me you won't tell him about it." Naruto begged his friend.

"Alright, alright.." Kiba reluctantly agreed. "I'm not fond of the idea but I'll do it for you this time, but if this happens again I'm calling him on the spot. And then you'll have to deal with him when he finds out we didn't tell him the first time it happened."

Naruto and Kiba made their way to the sport facilities and got into their gym clothes. Naruto didn't think this could ever be possible but he was actually thrilled to see Gai sensei, the guy was an amazing distraction, plus his warm up schedule was great at draining away all of his uneasiness.

x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi had finally decided that the blond boy just wasn't going to show up at the train station anymore so today he had gone through his usual routine. He finished his work at the school, substituting for various teachers. and then spent the rest of the day quietly in the teachers lounge reading his book until it was time to head over to instruct martial arts... that is when it was an hour past the time he was supposed to start instructing martial arts. It was alright though, Gai had surely gotten them warmed up enough now for his training.

x.x.x.x.x

After an hour of running Naruto was much more concerned about his physical health and the state of his muscles than anything else. He and Kiba were tiredly stretching when Naruto got another shock. He wasn't sure if this one was good or just as terrifying as the previous one.

"So this is where you've been for the last few days." The lazy baritone voice droned out.

Imagine Kakashi's surprise when it turned out the boy he had been hoping to meet for the last few days had been spending the time in his club.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

_So why, can someone please tell me why, are you standing right here!?!_

"Ehhh!" Was all Naruto could manage as he whirled around, pointing an accusing finger at the man who he was supposed to have never met again. "What the hell are you doing here?" He half shouted at the silver haired man.

Kiba who had gotten a shock as well due to his friends reaction, he was still a bit on edge after hearing his friend had a panic attack, walked over to the blond.

"What you know him?" He asked his friend.

Before Kakashi or Kiba could say anything more Naruto kept going.

"I knew it! You're some kind of a pervert stalker!! What did you follow me here or something? God I bet you even know where I live now!" Naruto was flailing his arms around as he spoke. "Look I appreciate the interest and everything but if you knew who I was you wouldn't be doing this..." Naruto suddenly looked a bit frightened. "Or maybe it's because you know who I am that you're doing this! What you want to beat me up or something?" Naruto was now scooching closer to Kiba. It wouldn't be the first time someone had wanted to beat him up after they learned who he was.

"Naruto calm down he's.." Kiba was cut off by the arrival of Gai sensei.

"My dear Naruto, what seems to be the cause of your Great Distress?" He asked in a booming voice.

Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi, who had just been standing there with an amused look in his eye while Naruto threw his fit. He honestly thought it was quite cute actually.

"He's the problem!" Naruto yelled. "He's stalking me! He's a weirdo, perverted, stalker."

Gai seemed to be speechless for the first time in his life. Kakashi looked like he was trying to suppress a laugh and Kiba was just staring at the ground not knowing what on earth else to do in this situation, maybe his friend really had lost his mind.

"Naruto.." Kiba began awkwardly. "I'm sure, although he can seem quite strange at times and you certainly could call him a pervert, that he's not stalking you."

"Then what the hell is he doing here then!?!" Naruto said still pointing at the man.

"Well I kind of run this club." Kakashi said as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh yeah, _that_ explains it. You _ruuun_.. this... club?" Naruto deflated. "You mean, as in _this_ club? You.. work here?" It was at that point that Naruto realized Kakashi was wearing what looked like a judo uniform, it wasn't like the traditional once though, his was all black.

"I told you I was a ninja didn't I? You just chose not to believe me." Kakashi said with obvious amusement.

"Oh yeah, I'd obviously interpret that as an "I'm an instructor at your schools martial arts club." now wouldn't I." Naruto huffed.

"It's all underneath the underneath, you just have to look for it." Kakashi said as he slapped him on the shoulder. "Well then since warm up is over get ready for some fighting you've been slacking off all week." And with that he started walking over to the dojo, as if it hadn't been his fault that the students hadn't been practicing fighting in the first place.

_Why did I run straight _to_ you when I was trying to run _away_ form you?

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**Alright 3rd chapter up. Thanks for reading**


	4. Chapter 4

**4th chapter up.. For those who care I haven't given up on my other stories, I just have a lot of school work these days and this story is pretty much writing itself, unlike the other once who need a lot more time and thought than I can give right now. **

**Don't know how fast updates for this will go from now because of school work.. it might continue to be every few days like it's been or it might get longer. I'll finish all my school work on december 8th (hope so anyway since that's the day I have to hand it in..) so after that I should start updating all my stories more often.**

**Thanks for reading so far.

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x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

"Why didn't you tell me he worked here?" Naruto asked his mutt loving friend. He was still finding it hard to get over the fact that the stranger from the train station had turned out to be the instructor of the class he was taking specifically to get away from said person.

"How the hell was I supposed to know you knew the guy? I did tell you both of the instructors were weird didn't I." Kiba replied. "I don't know what the hell happened between you guys but you're giving me the full story on the way home." Kiba gave Naruto a look that said 'And don't you even try to worm your way out of it'.

"Full story of what?"

Naruto and Kiba turned around to see their two friends walking over to them. Shikamaru was lazily chewing on a straw while Chouji literally inhaled chips from a bag. Shikamaru glanced at his blond friend once they arrived.

"Feeling better?" He asked.

"Yeah." Naruto said a little embarrassed. "Thanks.. uhm for.. your hand and everything."

"Don't worry about it." Shikamaru said as they started walking to the station. "It's only a small wound and it's over and done with anyway. Don't bother me with it anymore."

"Aww, poor Shika. Getting all flustered over Naruto's girlie charms." Kiba joked.

"Hey!" Naruto snapped angrily.

Shikamaru just mumbled his customary "You guys are so troublesome." Before he broke up the potential fight by asking."So what's this thing Naruto has to tell us about?"

"Oh just the reason why Naruto got it into his silly little head that Kakashi sensei was a perverted stalker out to get his virgin ass. Which he then shouted at the poor guy in front of the whole Martial arts club."

Both Shikamaru and Chouji burst out laughing at that, Chouji nearly suffocating on some chips as they went down the wrong way.

"I didn't know he worked here! The stunning god never bothered to mention that!"

"Stunning god?" All of his friends stopped walking and just stared at him.

Naruto felt his face heat up as he blushed scarlet. "Stupid guy! I said stupid guy! Now do you want to hear about it or not?" Naruto huffed.

Chouji decided Naruto didn't need any more encouragement from Kiba so he put his hand over his mouth before he turned to Naruto and, while trying not to burst out laughing again, said. "Go on."

They had reached the station, that was only a short walk away from their school, at that point and found a place to sit near their platform, away from the large crowd where they could talk in peace.

"Ok, out with it man." Kiba said impatiently. "How do you know Kakashi?"

"I met him at Suna station a few weeks back." Naruto began. "First time I met him we didn't really talk much, he was just being really weird so I ignored him. After that I started bumping into him every day when I went home from school and we'd chat and stuff before my train arrived." Naruto scratched his head self-consciously.

"Aww, our little baby Naruto's got a crush." Kiba cooed at him. Naruto hated when they called him that. There was no reason to rub the fact in his face that he was shorter than his three friends and it wasn't his fault that he was born later than them. He couldn't deny the crush part though.

"Well... yeah." He admitted as he blushed again.

"So? What happened?" Chouji asked. None of his friends had been overly concerned about it when Naruto had told them he was gay. Kiba had just jokingly told him he'd better not fall in love with him but he'd forgive Naruto for it anyway since it was such a hard thing not to do. They talked about the guys Naruto liked just like they would any girl the others found interesting.

"Nothing happened." Naruto said with a hint of annoyance. "I bailed like usual."

"Why?" Chouji asked before he could stop himself, he received a dark look from Kiba over Naruto's shoulder. Naruto turned to his large friend and extended his hand for a handshake.

"Hi." He said cheerily. "I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto... oh you've heard the name before?.. Why yes I _do_ happen to be related to _that _Uzumaki." Naruto finished sarcastically. He might have said it without a care in the world but the hand momentarily rubbing the left side of his chest didn't go unnoticed by his friends. "I thought I'd save myself the trouble of a rejection by just going ahead and breaking it off myself."

"He didn't seem to dislike you at all today though." Kiba said assuringly. "Maybe you do have a chance with him after all."

It was the truth. Kakashi hadn't shown any reaction when Naruto gave him his name for the first time. He'd only smiled that eye smile of his and told him he'd kind of figured out who he was since there was only one new name on the club roster and his was the only new face around. It made Naruto wonder if the guy knew about his past at all. He very rarely met anyone who hadn't heard the name Uzumaki and what it stood for, and if he did someone always found themselves obligated to inform said person just why they shouldn't associate themselves with him.

Kakashi had turned out to be a very good instructor, even better than Iruka who had taught the blond everything he knew. Naruto and the other members had spent the rest of practice learning various methods of overpowering their opponent.

"Well maybe he just didn't want to be mean to a student or something." Naruto thought out loud "Besides I don't even know if he's gay or not."

"I think he's bi." Kiba said. When this was met by six pairs of inquiring eyes Kiba continued awkwardly. "What? It's just what I've heard."

"From who?" Naruto asked.

"I heard those women who teach you art talking about it, you know the purple haired one and the one with the red eyes."

At this point their train arrived and they all got on, scoring some good seats where they could all sit close together.

"Anko and Kurenai?"

"Probably, I don't know their names. Anyway, Kakashi is pretty popular in school so there are always a bunch of rumors about him floating around."

"I haven't heard any of those. I didn't even know he worked at our school!" Naruto stressed for the tenth time that day.

"How could you not know! He taught our English class once." Kiba informed him.

"What? No he didn't, I think I would have remembered that." Naruto said loudly.

"You wouldn't actually, it was the time that flu was going around, you were home sick that day." Shikamaru said. Naruto wondered, not for the first time, just how much information Shikamaru's brain actually contained. The guy seemed to remember every damn little thing down to the finer details. Naruto could hardly remember what he ate for breakfast.

"So he teaches as well as running the club?" Naruto asked.

"I think he's just a substitute teacher." Chouji said as he munched on another bag of chips.

"He teaches literature too actually." Shikamaru told them.

"Haha, I can just imagine what he's actually making his students read." Kiba said jokingly.

Even Shikamaru, who was usually to lazy to show much of a reaction, laughed at that.

When things quieted down Kiba looked over at his blond friend. He really loved the guy like a brother and he wanted him to be happy. He put his arm around his shoulder and gave him a big grin. "Well what ever you decide to do we're here for you. Right guys?"

Shikamaru and Chouji both nodded in agreement.

"I'm not saying you couldn't have picked someone a little more... normal.. but hey, what ever tickles your fanny." Kiba smirked.

"It's what ever tickles your _fancy_. Smart ass." Naruto corrected his friend.

Kiba smirked. "Not in your case."

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

If Kakashi was anything like any other guy he would be standing in his office at the dojo grinning like an idiot at nothing and everything, making his friend and co-worker completely question his sanity. As it was Kakashi couldn't even remember a time when he himself had thought he was anywhere _near_ being like everyone else so he was just lazily sitting at his desk face covered by his favorite orange book.

His friend and co-worker, Gai, on the other hand _was _questioning his eternal rivals sanity but for other reasons all together. It wasn't everyday that he saw a student yell at a teacher, and no one had ever dared to so much as hum in the direction of Kakashi in the wrong tone before. The guy was just totally off putting with the dark clothes, the mask and bandanna and the "come near me and I'll kill you with my little toe" aura, that look was a bit weird but so was the owner of it. He was nothing like Gai who always welcomed his students with a warm greeting and a friendly hug. Sure people would joke with him and things like that, Kakashi was a very easy going person really, but no one had ever dared to yell at him before. That is, until a very emotional Naruto had accused his best friend and eternal rival of stalking him. With some very evil intentions as well.

Now Gai was utterly confused. Surely Naruto had had some reason for thinking that way, but Kakashi couldn't be stalking him could he? Yes the man did read adult books quite often but he wouldn't stoop down to stalking innocent children would he? But why did Naruto think he was then? There must surely be some kind of a misunderstanding going on here. Maybe Naruto had been the one Kakashi was trying to woo lately. Yes that must be it. And since Kakashi wasn't very good with people Naruto must have misunderstood him. Yes that did sound about right Gai thought.

Kakashi was in fact not reading his book. He was waiting for his friends mind to slowly work out what ever crazy thoughts were going on in there right now, he could practically _hear_ the gears in the mans head working overtime. Kakashi knew the chances weren't that high but he still hoped his friend was not thinking about something that concerned him. Of course he had to be proven right when his friend suddenly struck that ridiculous pose of his and proclaimed loudly.

"AhA! My dear friend. Naruto is the precious person you have been courting these past few days isn't he?"

Kakashi would have liked to point out that technically that would be a no. Because he had in fact been seeing the blond weeks before that and then he hadn't seen him at all for the past few days when he had been absent because the boy had actually been at the club. He didn't though because it would only have confused Gai and he really didn't want to explain any more of this than he absolutely had to.

Instead he settled for a vague yet truthful answer. "We talked a few times yeah."

"OH ho ho. And has the powerful youth captured your heart like none other?"

Kakashi willed himself to keep staring at his book and not give in to the urge to role his eyes.

"Sure he's interesting." Kakashi droned.

"Have you proclaimed your undying love for him already?"

What era was his friend from Kakashi wondered not for the first time... scratch that, what solar system had the guy crawled out off.

"Not really no." He replied without much enthusiasm.

"Don't worry my dear Eternal Rival! You have nothing to be shy about. Proclaiming your love can be very scary I know but the reward it gives is worth it! You must use the Power of your Youth while you still can and seize your love before it is taken by another. Don't worry at all about your inadequate social skills my friend! I will help you win the boy's heart!"

Kakashi lazily peeked over the edge of his book and gave his friend a fake look of confusion.

"I'm sorry did you say something?" He asked

"Gahhh! That's so like you. It pisses me off!"

x.x.x.x.x

When Gai was gone Kakashi sat at his desk a little bit longer. His thoughts focused on the blond boy.

"Captured my heart huh?" He mumbled to himself. Had the boy done that?

Naruto Uzumaki. Of course he had known who the boy was long before he'd told him. He'd known it long before he'd seen the name written on the team roster too. He'd known that name since he was young and there was no way in hell he was ever going to forget it.

At first Kakashi had just wanted to get close to the boy. Get to know him a little and see what his life was like before he'd slip out of it again the same way he'd entered it. He'd seen him on campus once and recognized him immediately. But the blond was always surrounded by his friends and Kakashi didn't really have any connection to him so stopping him randomly at school with his gang had been out of the question. And so Kakashi might have done a _little_ stalking to see when would be the best time to approach the teen. Learning that Naruto always went home alone at the end of the day gave him the perfect opportunity and so he'd driven to Suna station and put his plan into motion.

But the more he had talked to the boy the more he wanted to know. He'd looked forward to meeting him at the train station, it had become his favorite part of the day, and when the boy had stopped showing up he felt like he had lost an important person all over again, and he had lost too many people in his lifetime to want to experience that pain ever again. Especially not with Naruto. He was never going to lose Naruto after this. Never again.

"I guess he has." Kakashi admitted to himself as he turned of the lights and locked his office. He made his way to the parking lot near the sport facilities and got on his motorcycle. Putting his helmet and gloves on as he kicked the stand out of the way. Before he took off he pushed the bandanna up from his face, one red eye briefly visible before he snapped the dark eye-shield back in place and sped off down the street, mind filled with the image of a blond teenager moving gracefully through fighting techniques.

Oh yes, it was much better having him in the club than meeting him at the station every day.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

When Naruto got home he was met outside the house by a somewhat harassed looking Genma who came running past him. His older dad stopped dead two steps behind him and turned around.

"Iruka's a bit pissed off at you right now. Just thought I'd give you the heads up before you go in there." He blurted out in a hurry. "Just in case he threatens to disown you just remember that you'll always be my son and I love you. Don't bother coming to the center tonight and just take care of Iruka." He called over his shoulder as he ran towards the youth center. It was only about a 15 minute walk from their house to the center and since it was a similar distance to the grade school Iruka worked at they'd never bought a car. They could get everything they needed within a walking distance and used the train for anything else.

Naruto stood in the front yard dazed for a moment before he looked back towards the house. Iruka pissed off at him, even if it was only slightly, was never a good thing. Just the sound of Naruto's name being all but growled out by an angry Iruka was enough for him to want to confess to every minor little thing he might have possibly done, or even thought about doing, for the past month. Maybe even his whole life. As it was Naruto couldn't remember anything he might have possibly done to piss off Iruka at all recently so it was with a hint of curiosity that Naruto cautiously stepped into the eerily quiet house. Not wanting his somewhat more temperamental dad to jump out on him when he least expected he decided to just face it right away and called out for the guy.

"Iruka?" He yelled hesitantly.

"In here!" Came the somewhat strained voice of his guardian from the living room to his left.

Naruto put his schoolbag down on the stairs opposite the front door and made his way across the spacious hall and into the living room. He was stopped dead in his tracks by a crutch poking him in the chest.

"What have I told you about responsibility young man!" Came the, oh yes, pissed off voice of his father. Naruto looked from the crutch to the tanned face of his father, that looked like he was in pain, and then finally down to the mans feet, one of which was covered by a thick cast reaching all the way up to his hip, his toes all that could be seen of his foot.

"What the hell happened?" Naruto asked worriedly.

"Oh Konohamaru was just _dying_ to show me this new technique he'd just learned during practice today. Something that _you_ had taught him recently." This was emphasized by another poked in the chest by the crutch. "Needles to say he screwed it up and I ended up with a trip to the hospital. Now where on earth did all the things I taught you go? I thought I raised you to be a responsible kid not someone who recklessly teaches children something they can't handle, putting themselves and others in danger."

Naruto looked down at his feet guiltily while he rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm really sorry." He said to his dad.

"You better be, and to make it up to me you're taking over the martial arts lessons for the kids. I know you're busy with school and club activities of your own during the week so I'm moving all my classes on to the weekend." Iruka said as he moved over to the couch and sat down with a painful wince.

Naruto groaned. This pretty much meant his weekends for who knew how long were shot. Iruka didn't have that many classes but it would be at least 5 or so hours all in all spent with snotty little kids and rebellious teenagers.

"Don't worry about it too much." Iruka said tiredly from the couch. "Genma was going to find someone to cover the classes so all you'll really be doing is helping out."

Naruto sat down and eyed his fathers cast. He hated nothing more than seeing people close to him hurt.

After his parents had... died... and before Iruka took him in he'd been sent between foster families and orphanages a lot, not really being wanted anywhere, so the shock he had received had never healed properly. He'd gotten a lot better since he was a child, then he would have frozen up even at the smallest scrape Iruka or Genma got. Iruka had once told him of a time when he'd been playing over at Kiba's and the other boy had fallen on his bike resulting in a scraped knee, palms and a cut on his forehead, and yet it had been Kiba who carried home a hysterically crying Naruto.

Naruto was reminded of his episode earlier that day and he shuddered slightly. He really hoped he was right and it would only be a one time thing. He'd been mostly fine for years now and he wanted to keep it that way.

Iruka noticed his son's uneasiness and petted his shoulder lovingly. "It's nothing to worry about, the break wasn't really that bad and I should be back on my feet pretty soon. I just won't be able to teach martial arts for a while." He said reassuringly.

Naruto smiled at the older man. "That's good to hear. I'm gonna grab dinner now and then head over to Kiba's, we're gonna do homework together. Just call me if you need anything and I'll be right over." He said as he walked out into the hall again.

He'd lied about his plans with Kiba. He just didn't want his father to notice his hands shaking like they did.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chappy 5! **

**Thank you all for your reviews! they make me very happy =) Even just a small "I like your story" puts a smile on my face.

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Naruto was running. Searching. He didn't know where he was. Couldn't see where he was going. Couldn't see where he was coming from. Couldn't see his surroundings at all. He hit a dead end shrouded in shadow. _Not here._ He turned, backtracked a little before he took a sharp right turn. Searching, always searching. _Has to be here._ He hit a fork in the road and went left. _Have to find it._ Crashing into another dead end. Turning back and going the other way. Endlessly running through the dark maze. He could hear the heartbeat growing louder. Bu-bump. _Have to find it.._ Turn here and keep running. Bu-bump. _Have to find what I lost..._ Run faster. Bu-bump, bu-bump. _Before _it_ finds me._ Search harder. Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump. _There! To the right._ Running towards the light. Bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump, bu-bump. Faster before it catches up. _Almost there.._

Naruto was jolted out of his sleep by the shrieking sound of his new alarm clock. After turning the annoyance off he laid back down and stared into the darkness of his room, waiting for his eyes to adjust. He shivered. He'd been covered in sweat when he woke up, like he had actually been running, and when the blankets shifted as he reached for his alarm clock the much colder temperature of the room crept under them.

He hadn't had that dream for a long time. It wasn't exactly a nightmare, the dream didn't frighten him. He just didn't understand what it meant. Didn't know what he was so desperately looking for. Iruka had taken him to see a psychologist once and he'd suggested that it might have something to do with Naruto's memory loss. He might be subconsciously searching for the missing memories his mind had suppressed after his trauma or some shit like that. Naruto didn't buy that crap. At that time he hadn't wanted a psychologist or anyone else screwing with his head. Didn't trust anyone except Iruka and Genma.

What did scare him about the dream was that it was usually followed by another one. Another much more terrifying one. There he couldn't run. Couldn't escape while a giant fox held him down and stabbed him repeatedly with it's nine tails. The big grin on his face printed into his mind for ever, because he knew that if he looked away from it, looked beyond the monster, he would be met with an even more horrifying sight. He didn't know what it was, he only knew he didn't want to know.

"Subconsciously trying to get my memories back." Naruto nearly laughed. "I only remember one minor little thing and that's making me fucked up enough. I don't need any more thank you very much." He mumbled as he turned on the light and got out of bed. He pulled on a loose pair of black jeans and ruffled his hair, he knew nothing short of taking a shower and then spending an hour or so fighting, a losing battle he might add, with it would get it to look "decent" like Iruka would put it. Something he very rarely felt like doing, especially since Genma found it hilarious to ruffle it back to it's unruly state when ever he did. One time he'd even been waiting outside the bathroom door for him, pouncing as soon as he walked out.

He paused momentarily once he'd opened his closet to get a shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror for the first time in a while, he tended to avoid it. This time he gave himself a critical once over, starting with his face. His hair was getting a bit longer than he liked it, he'd have to get a haircut soon. His sapphire blue eyes were still glazed over with sleep and the right side of his face was red and a bit wrinkled from lying on his pillow, making the white lines of his scars stand out more clearly. Finally his eyes traveled down to his tanned chest. As much as Naruto hated showing the upper part of his his body it was actually one of the things he liked the most about himself. He looked small and scrawny because more often than not he wore loose t-shirts and hoodies but that wasn't the case. Even though he was small he had muscular arms and a damn good looking six-pack even if he did say so himself.

The reason for his reluctance to go topless was the thing he was staring at now. What everyone ended up staring at either with disgust or pity, like a black stain on the corner of a white canvass that unconsciously drew your eye and held your gaze. It was a jagged ugly scar right over his heart with another much finer one running across it, total opposites eternally imprinted on his skin in a deformed X. One to end his life and another one to save it.

Naruto was violently startled back to the present when the sound of his alarm came blasting out again, he jumped so badly that he nearly went crashing into his closet. Apparently he hadn't turned it off but only hit the snooze button when he got up. When he ran over to turn it off properly this time his eyes automatically sought out the bright red digital numbers. It was 6:15.

"Shit I'm gonna be late if I don't hurry." He said to himself as he ran back to his closet and pulled out a random tank top and a hoodie, an orange one with a black logo he'd designed himself on the back. It was a spiral with some kanji like doodles stretching away from it, five on top and five on the bottom. From a distance it looked almost like a burning sun. Next he got his goggles and put them on, grabbed his school bag along with his sports bag and then ran down stairs.

As he put his sneakers on and tied them, to avoid another accident, he could see his younger dad sleeping on the couch in the living room. Iruka looked so much younger all wrapped up in a quilt and sleeping innocently. His hair was down, framing his face and softening his features and the scar running over his nose only made him look even cuter. The blanket had been a student project in Naruto's last year at grade school, they had all made one piece each which were then stitched together to make a big whole and since Naruto's piece had been the brightest in color, being mostly made up of orange, it had been put in the center of the quilt. The class had then given the blanket to Iruka as a farewell present.

Naruto's older dad was standing over Iruka watching him sleep. The usually frowning or smirking man now had a gentle look on his face that only he and Iruka were privileged enough to receive. Their eyes met across the hall and they both smiled, Genma gave him a small wave as Naruto stood up and ran out the door.

He nearly collided with Kiba on the pathway, only narrowly avoiding it by quickly sidestepping out of the way. Kiba just looked at him blankly.

"You are wayyy to energetic in the mornings you do know that right." He stated tiredly.

"I had a strange morning." Naruto mumbled.

"What, saw yourself in the mirror." Kiba joked half heartedly.

"Actually... yeah." Naruto replied as he adjusted his bags.

Kiba stopped walking for a moment and just stared at his friend. "Ok.. That is weird." He yawned and started walking again. "God I am _so_ going to buy a car, I hate getting up so early!"

"You're honestly going to buy a car just to get one more hour of sleep?" Naruto eyed his friend. The distance to their school wasn't all that great, it would only take about 30 to 45 minutes to get there by car. But since their train route took them so far out of the way, and they had to wait between trains, they had to get up about 2 hours before their school started in order to get there on time.

"It's gonna come in handy for other things as well." Kiba yawned again. "God I hate mornings!"

"Cheer up man. At least it's Friday, you can sleep in tomorrow."

"Yeah.. so what do you say? Wanna go car hunting with me tomorrow?" His childhood friend asked, showing some hint of enthusiasm for the first time that morning.

"Can't." Naruto stated. "Iruka broke his leg yesterday and I'm in charge of his martial arts classes until he gets better.. well helping out who ever they get to substitute anyway."

"Aw man, that sucks. We should get him some chocolates or something at the train station when we come home today." Iruka and Genma were like fathers for Kiba as well and he often came to them with guy problems that he couldn't ask his mother or sister about.

"Yeah that's a great idea." Naruto said cheerfully.

Suddenly Kiba leered at him. "What on earth are you thinking about now?" Naruto asked his friend.

"Oh I think I know who you can ask to take over the martial arts classes for Iruka." Kiba nearly sang out.

"As good as you think you are you're definitely not good enough to do it." Naruto said. Kiba's smirk only got bigger and he ignored his friends comment.

"I know of a certain substitute teacher who's very good at martial arts. A certain weirdo a certain someone I know has a crush on."

"Yeah and I know a certain someone who needs to get his head checked out." Naruto mumbled. "I am definitely _not_ going to ask that person to take over the class."

"Aw come on." Kiba continued. "It would probably be a wet dream come true for you. The man you're lusting after using you to _demonstrate_ some _moves_. Throwing you down, pinning you down, holding you tight against that muscular body of his, sliding his hands all over you..."

"In front of all the children and preteen that will be there." Naruto finished for him. "Yeah that would be my ultimate fantasy." He finished sarcastically.

"What would be?" Came the curious voice of Chouji. They'd just reached the train station and he and Shikamaru were sitting on the steps outside waiting for them.

"Naruto getting it on in front of a bunch of little kids. There's just no helping the dirty pervert." Kiba said with mock concern. "No wonder he's still a virgin with his weird tastes."

Naruto looked at his friend with one raised eyebrow. "Ok... And you all have done it how many times?" He asked.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

By lunch Naruto was absolutely famished. In his hurry that morning he'd forgotten all about food. Iruka usually made his lunches for him, a habit he'd never gotten out of since he took Naruto in, so he'd never had to worry about it before. He hadn't taken a lot of money with him to school so if he risked buying food at the cafeteria he wouldn't have enough for the train ride home. His friends didn't have any extra cash either so they couldn't buy him any food, although they did all give him some of theirs, it just wasn't enough to take the hunger away.

He eyed Kiba's tray longingly as he clutched his stomach, the hunger pains were driving him mad.

"Naruto I'm not giving you any more! I have to eat too you know, so stop staring at me like I'm starving you for my own sick pleasure. You're going to give me indigestion."

Naruto was going to respond but his stomach beat him to it, growling loudly.

Kiba looked at the little food he had left and then at the empty trays of his other friends. He looked at Naruto, back at his food and then at Naruto again. He hadn't eaten breakfast that morning either so he was quite hungry himself but he hated seeing his friend in such obvious discomfort.

Naruto was hunched over, his forehead lying on the table. He was trying to ignore the painful protests of his stomach but it was about as hard to ignore as Gai when he was crushing you and shouting in your ear.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe I can just find something in the garbage or something.. it's bound to be better than the food I've bought here before."

Kiba gave a big sigh and was about to push his tray over to his friend when a hand reached over Naruto's shoulder and a full tray of food was placed in front of him.

Naruto gave a start and tried to scooch away from the limb that seemingly came out of no-where, which made him collide into what the arm was inevitably attached to. He froze, his back pressed into the body that was leaning over him. Looking at his friends faces his suspicions were confirmed. They looked a bit surprised but they also looked like they were trying to hide the grins threatening to take over their faces. Naruto slowly let his head fall back and his eyes travel upwards. The first thing he saw was the silver hair, followed by the bandanna and then finally Kakashi's mask clad face. The guy was smiling that eye smile of his, it looked friendly but it clearly said 'I know something you don't.' Naruto was never sure if he really _did_ want to know what the guy was thinking. He himself wasn't thinking anything at that particular moment. All he could feel was the heat pressed into his back and his mind was filled with the image of that gorgeous upside down face. Suddenly Naruto realized what he was doing and he blushed beat red, he was going to move forward again but Kakashi had moved his hand so that it was still holding the tray on the table but he'd put his elbow up against Naruto's shoulder, pinning him in place. Naruto blushed even more.

"Ahhh..." Was the only thing he managed to get out.

"Yes?" Kakashi said still smiling.

"Uhm.. What are you doing?" He finally managed to get out.

Kakashi was actually grinning now. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He asked.

Naruto would say that it looked like Kakashi was embracing him but he wasn't about to say that out-loud. Getting annoyed at himself for responding so strongly to the man he looked down at the table again and said. "You know this is a pretty big cafeteria, I'm sure you can find a place to sit that isn't on top of me."

"Oh but my dear Naruto, I think it would be so much fun to get on top of you." Kakashi said as he leaned down and put his left hand on Naruto's other shoulder. Naruto watched in mild horror as Chouji nearly choked on the food in his mouth, he and Shikamaru both bent their heads down and he could see their shoulders shaking as they tried to hold the laughter in.

Naruto could feel his heart beating wildly in his chest and it was making him uncomfortable. He started rubbing his chest with his right hand, a habit he didn't know he had but was a clear sign that he was stressed out.

Kakashi could see how clearly uncomfortable Naruto was getting and as much fun as it was teasing him he had no desire to take it too far so he moved the tray of food closer to Naruto and stopped leaning over him so much.

"Eat the food." He said as he patted Naruto on the shoulder one last time. "There's a competition coming up and I'd rather you didn't faint during practice. See ya all later." He said, giving a wave over his shoulder as he walked away.

Naruto's table was silent for a moment before his friends all burst out laughing.

"Man you should have seen your face!" Kiba wailed. "You looked even _worse_ than a deer caught in the headlights."

"Shut it!" Naruto mumbled.

"Aw look, little Naru is blushing like a school girl with a crush." Kiba teased.

Naruto put his hood over his head, pulling it down over his eyes with his hands. "Am not!" He protested.

"Well you should start eating the food he gave you." Shikamaru stated. "If you leave it untouched for too long Chouji is gonna eat it away from you."

"Hey!" Chouji started to argue.

"What you saying I'm wrong?" Shikamaru mumbled lazily.

"Well.. if he's not going to eat it then I will.. you don't just throw away perfectly good food."

Naruto's stomach growled loudly again. "I'm eating it, I'm eating it." He said. "No ones throwing away anything."

"Yeah." Kiba said in agreement. "Especially not food that Kakashi-Sensei gave Naruto with so much love!"

"What on earth are you talking about." Naruto snapped, taking of his hood again and picking up the chopsticks . "You heard him he just gave it to me so I wouldn't pass out during practice."

"Oh really?" Kiba asked innocently. "Then why are the rice balls shaped like little hearts?"

"WHAT!" Naruto cried over the whole cafeteria.

x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi stopped right outside the cafeteria doors and waited, he didn't have to stay there long before he got a reaction. The kid sure could yell. He'd noticed that Naruto didn't have any food today so he'd decided to buy some for him. Of course he couldn't skip the opportunity to mess with the blond, too bad he couldn't be there to see the look on his face.

He chuckled as he started walking down the hallway. Well he had plenty of opportunities to mess with the kid again so it didn't really matter.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto was thoroughly annoyed when they made it to their English classroom. His friends had teased him mercilessly for the rest of the lunch break. Was that guy seriously sent by fate just to make his life miserable. Sure the guy hadn't done anything mean to him or anything and he probably didn't _mean_ to bother him half of the time, but he was causing him all sorts of inner turmoil. He didn't know if the man wanted to be his friend and was just trying to be funny or if he was just playing around with him for his own pleasure. He really did like the man but he could never be too careful, he'd often been approached by people who pretended to want to be his friend either because they wanted to get close to him to hurt him somehow or because they thought it was cool to hang out with _the _Uzumaki. Granted there weren't many in the later category but there were always a few weirdos out there.

Once in the classroom they took their usual seats, Naruto by the window with Kiba on his right side and Shikamaru behind him with Chouji on his right. Shino and Hinata had assigned seats on the other side of the classroom. Naruto sighed as he looked at the dark haired teen in front of him, there was only one thing he hated about English class.

"SASUKE!!"

And that was it. Naruto's desk got pushed into his stomach as both Ino and Sakura came crashing into it in their haste to smother the bastard.

"Go away Pig. He doesn't want you here!"

"Shut up Billboard head! It's you he doesn't want!"

Naruto pushed himself away from his desk and rubbed his bruised ribs. "More like both of you he doesn't want." He mumbled over his shoulder to Shikamaru, who rolled his eyes as if to say 'You got that right'.

"Go stuff yourself porky, your seat is over there!"

"Well your seat is over there! Now go sit down in it before the shine from your forehead blinds my Sasuke-kun."

"_Your_ Sasuke-kun? He's no..."

Sakura's loud voice was cut off by the sound nails scratching down the black board. Naruto grabbed his ears to block out the sound and as he, along with the rest of his class, turned to look at the cause of the earsplitting noise he heard a very familiar baritone drone out.

"Well now that I have your attention could the domestic animal and the forehead miss please take their seats so I can start the class." Kakashi said grinning. Sakura and Ino had been making so much noise that Naruto hadn't noticed when the man came in.

"WHAT!" Came the equally offended voices of Ino and Sakura. "You can't call us that!"

"Oh I'm sorry. It's just that I don't know your names and you were calling each other that so I just went with it. Anyway, would Blondy and Pinky please take their respective seats so we can start the class?"

Both girls stormed off to their seats and sat down with a huff.

"Where's Asuma-Sensei?" Chouji asked suddenly.

Kakashi, who was writing some notes on the black board, turned around and immediately locked his eye on the boy. After a moments hesitation he answered. "He got lost on the road of life."

"What the hell does that mean?" Kiba asked bewildered. Unlike most other teachers he knew Kakashi didn't mind his swearing at all.

"Good question." Kakashi commented, and without answering it he continued on. "Now today we'll be reading from these boring books here." He said as he started walking around the classroom distributing them. "You'll be taking turns and reading them out loud for the rest of the class and later we'll do a little assignment."

"Che, Isn't that a bit too easy. We're not in grade school anymore!" Sasuke said indignantly.

"Well that's a relief." Kakashi shot back. "For a moment there your attitude had me thinking otherwise."

Naruto nearly laughed. The guy had just managed to insult the three most popular students in the class. Teachers usually gave them special treatment because they got good grades or came from important families like the teme did but Kakashi was stuffing their arrogance right back down their throats.

When Kakashi handed him his book he nearly groaned out loud though. It was Macbeth by William Shakespeare. He hated those kind of books, all the crap about 'This guy walks out, this guy walks in' and the old English just gave him a headache. Well he wouldn't have to worry about it for a while now since they always went by the alphabet when they took turns doing something and his name was among the last. He leaned back in his chair and followed his lazy friends example and stared at the sky outside.

But apparently Kakashi had other ideas because as soon as the books were handed out he smirked again and said. "Well since I'm only substituting for today and I don't really know your names, nor do I care to try and learn them, I'll just point at you and ask you to read. Now starting with someone who I do know, Naruto could you start reading at page 54 in the second paragraph?"

Naruto snapped his attention away from the scenery outside and let his chair fall back forward. The guy was smiling at him again with that strange smile of his. Well he didn't exactly care if Kakashi had meant to mess with him or not by letting him read first, he didn't mind at all because this way he'd be done sooner and could just spend the rest of the time zoning out.

He picked up his book, flipped it over to the page and started reading without much thought.

"Ryuu thrust his big dripping member into Atsuko's virgin passa... What the HELL!!"

Naruto blushed beat red all the way down to his neck while his class either burst out laughing or just shook their heads in annoyance. He ripped the cover off of the book and stared at the now familiar orange cover of an Itcha Itcha novel.

"Oh I am terribly sorry." Kakashi said looking like innocence incarnated. "Don't know how that got in there."

"You did that on purpose you Pervert!" Naruto snapped.

Oh that was definitely the final straw. Sexiest man he'd ever met or not this man was going _down._

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto was more than relived when he finally got home that day. After his English class his friends hadn't let him hear the end of it. Well mainly Kiba at their breaks and then at the club, Shikamaru didn't say much during their painting course but every once in a while he would burst out laughing. Naruto didn't know if he should be annoyed at him or concerned since it was completely out of character for the silent genius. He'd barely seen Chouji after English class but he'd laughed and put in a few teasing remarks of his own on the way home although his were a lot less offensive than Kiba's.

Kakashi had acted like nothing happened during practice and Naruto had decided to ignore him, still quite pissed off after being made fun of twice in the same day.

"I'm home." He called out as he walked through the front door.

"In here." Came the reply from Iruka out of the living room.

Naruto put his school bags down by the stairs like he usually did and headed over to his dad. Iruka was sitting at the couch he'd apparently slept on during the night, so he wouldn't have to go up and down the stairs, with his broken leg on the coffee table. He was watching some old movie on TV, a stack of papers he'd been grading lying on the floor beside the couch.

"How was school?" Iruka asked him cheerfully as Naruto sat down besides him.

"It was alright for the most part." Naruto mumbled as he threw a box of chocolates in Iruka's lap.

"Ooo candy!" The brown haired man cried. Iruka had the biggest sweet tooth Naruto knew about. "Something bugging you at school?" He asked around the chocolate he was now chewing in ecstasy.

"They're from Kiba as well so you should thank him for them too. And there's nothing really bugging me at school it's just that one of my club instructors apparently thinks it's hilarious to mess with me." Naruto said as he rubbed his eyes.

"Hmm." Iruka half hummed, half moaned around another chocolate piece. "That reminds me, Genma found someone to take over my classes so you'll be helping him out tomorrow."

"Any idea who it is?" Naruto asked.

"Not really, Some old friend of his from school or something like that. I think he said he was a SWAT member or something, I was half asleep from the pain killers when he told me all this." Iruka said thoughtfully. "Anyway, what's this about your instructor messing with you? Anything serious? Do you want me to talk to the school?" Iruka was in full protective parent mode by now.

"God no. It's nothing serious, just some joking around. I'd never hear the end of it if one of my dads showed up to protect me like some little kid."

"Well you are my little kid brat."

"Jeez I'm almost 18, I'm only 9 years younger than you! You took me in when you were around this age didn't you?"

Iruka smiled softly and pulled Naruto closer with one arm. "Yeah I did. Probably one of the craziest ideas I've had in my youth... but also the best one." He added lovingly.

Iruka had only been 18 himself when he'd taken the boy in. He had been working part time at Naruto's old grade school while he was learning to be a full qualified teacher. Iruka had been the first one to look past the kids behavior and reputation and really see the hurt and lonely soul that was hidden underneath. He and Genma, who was 26 at the time, had taken him in soon after he had been transfered to that school. At first it had only been meant to be temporary, until a good foster family could be found for the kid, but after only living with them for about a month Genma had legally adopted him and Iruka had then done the same when he got old enough.

"So if I'm your little kid does that make you Genma's little kid? He's what, 34 years old now right? And you're 26 so the age difference between you two is about the same as between you and me isn't it?" Naruto said with a mock thinking pose.

"Oh that's completely different." Iruka said with a grin. "See Genma is your dad but he's my sugar daddy." Iruka said like he had just explained to a little child that yes the square block was green and the ball was red.

"Oh I did so not need to hear that." Naruto groaned. "Why does everyone around me have to be so damn perverted!"

"What? Is my gorgeous little son getting hit on by a bunch of perverts or something?"

"No! Well.. maybe.. I don't know!" Naruto told Iruka a bit confused. "I think he just likes to make fun of me rather than anything else."

"We're talking about your instructor right?" Iruka said as he popped another candy in his mouth.

"Yeah." Naruto grumbled. "I am so going to get him back one of these days."

Iruka looked at his adopted son thoughtfully for a moment before he spoke. "So... If I'm not allowed to go and "_protect you like a little kid_" then can I make some other suggestions."

Naruto grinned at his younger dad. He knew that as much as Iruka hated trouble makers these days most of them would look like model students compared to how Iruka himself had been when he was a kid.

Oh yes, Kakashi was going down for sure.

* * *

**Thank you for reading =)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Important notice:** I've noticed recently that some of the text sometimes goes missing when I post my documents. It's happened to the last 2 chapters of this story and thankfully I've noticed it myself when I read over it again later. But if I miss it and you notice that a sentence suddenly cuts off in the middle please let me know so I can fix it.

And to answer jumpingbeans480's question, I changed the ages of the characters a bit. According to the info I have Genma and Iruka are 34 and 26 and I kept that. Kakashi should be 30 but I changed it to 28 and Naruto should be 16 but I changed it to 17 turning 18 soon. That way Naruto will be "legal" soon and I wanted the age gap between them to be a little bit shorter.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

When Naruto woke up that Saturday morning he felt like he was dead on his feet. He hadn't slept well, kept having the same old dream over and over again and like always he had woken up right before he'd found what he was looking for. The dream was becoming more real every time he had it and when he woke up for the last time that morning he was out of breath, hand reaching out for something he desperately needed but couldn't recognize.

He reluctantly got out of bed, he was tempted to just stay in sick today but decided against it. He had to help out with Iruka's martial arts classes today and knowing Iruka he would storm up the stairs, broken foot and all, if he heard Naruto wasn't feeling well. He knew he'd promised Kiba to talk to Iruka if anything happened after his panic the other day but Iruka had a lot of other stuff on his mind these days and he didn't want to bother him, he was probably just having some after affects that would go away with time. Granted he could talk to Genma about it as well but knowing him he'd force him to tell Iruka about it as well so that was out of the question.

Naruto decided to get a glass of water from the kitchen before he'd do anything else and so he tiredly started walking down stairs not even bothering to pull on a pair of pants over his boxers, it wasn't like Iruka and Genma hadn't seen him wearing even less than that. He walked out of his room, down the hallway and down the stairs, absentmindedly looking at the old photos of his weird family as he descended. He cursed out loud as he nearly tripped over his school bags at the bottom, since it was the weekend and he didn't have to use them today he hadn't put them away the night before. He straightened up and glanced into the living room, waving half heartedly at his brown haired dad and his silver haired companion before he went into the kitchen. Naruto heard Iruka call after him as he walked away but he decided to get the water before he went over to talk to him. He got a glass out of the dishwasher and put it on the counter by the sink as he waited for the water to get cold enough.

As he took the first sip he got this nagging feeling that something was out of place but he couldn't figure out what. He looked around the kitchen tiredly but everything seemed to be just like it always was. He shook his head and put the glass down on the sink next to some silver spoons, apparently Iruka was using his spare time now to polish the silver.

"Silver." He mumbled to himself. Why did that sound so familiar. He stood there for a moment staring at a spoon before it finally hit him.

Naruto ran over to the living room and, pointing an accusing finger at the man, half yelled. "What the hell are you doing here! I swear to god you are stalking me aren't you."

Kakashi only grinned but Iruka didn't seem to find the situation as comical. "Naruto!" He started but the blond boy wasn't finished.

"What you don't get enough of stalking me at school? How did you know where I lived! Did you follow me here? Who let you in you perverted stalker?!"

"Naruto! Language!" Iruka snapped at him in what was boarding on pissed off.

Naruto shut his mouth right away. No matter what the situation you did _not_ piss off Iruka.

The momentary silence that followed was soon broken by Kakashi's cheery voice. "I think some clothes wouldn't be a bad idea either."

Naruto looked at Kakashi just about ready to ask what the hell he meant by that when he followed the mans gaze down to his chest. That's when he realized that he had just been standing there probably making a complete ass of himself, again, in nothing but his boxers this time.

"Uhh.. well.." He mumbled before he turned on his heel and hightailed it up to his room again.

Naruto wasn't completely oblivious though. Kakashi's voice had been light and humorous but he'd been staring at Naruto's scar with a very serious expression in his eye. He put on some sport pants and a t-shirt, grabbing a random hoodie as well to wear on the way to the youth center, he didn't want to have to change in the public locker room at the center. It didn't bother him so much at school anymore because he was pretty used to people looking and his friends were all used to it by now, but it was different at the youth center with all the little kids there. Little kids tended to ask a lot of very personal questions he had no desire to even think about let alone answer.

When Naruto finally dared to show his face in the living room again Iruka had just finished going over his schedule for each group he was instructing. Naruto took a seat on the couch next to his father, trying very much to act like the previous meeting hadn't taken place at all. But of course Iruka wasn't about to let it go so easily.

"Naruto. Don't you have something to say to Kakashi san?"

Naruto looked at his father first and then over at Kakashi before he finally settled with just staring at the curtains behind the mans chair. He did not want to do this but he wanted even less to get on Iruka's bad side. "I'm sorry I called you a stalker." He said quietly.

"And?" Iruka pushed.

"And what?" Naruto looked over at his dad. "I'm not sorry for calling him a pervert. It's the truth, he is a pervert." Naruto barely managed to dodge his fathers hit that had been aimed at the back of his head.

"Don't call people that you brat, I didn't raise you to be so foul mouthed." Iruka ground out.

Naruto looked at him dumbfounded. "Excuse me? Wow I must have really hit my head on something, for a moment there I thought I had been living with you and Genma for the last 9 years. But surely I must have been living in an innocent little household where no one _ever_ swears or so much as looks at another person in a kinky way."

"Don't make me get up and kick your ass brat." Iruka said as he hit his son in the face with a pillow. "I can still beat you with only one leg."

Both of them were interrupted by the sound of a deep chuckle coming from the corner of the room. Kakashi had been watching them with great amusement the whole time. "Oh don't stop on my account. I wouldn't want to intrude on family business."

Iruka composed himself. "Terribly sorry about that. My son is adopted, I tried to fix him after I took him in but apparently it didn't work so well." Iruka said jokingly as he glanced at Naruto. Naruto decided to take the high road and let the remark slide but he did raise one eyebrow at his father.

"Anyway." Iruka continued. "How do you two know each other?"

Naruto looked over at Kakashi who was looking at him with an unreadable look on his face. Not wanting to take any chances Naruto answered the question. "He's my martial arts instructor at school." He saw no reason in telling Iruka that they had been hanging out at the train station a few weeks back. It would give his protective father a field day knowing he'd been socializing with weird looking strangers.

"I thought Genma said you were a SWAT member." Iruka said thoughtfully.

Kakashi looked over from Naruto to the dark haired man. "I used to be." He said shortly. When it became clear that he wasn't going to share any more information on that subject Iruka nodded his head and glanced at his watch.

"Well you should get going. I'm sure you want to check out the facilities before you start the class. Genma will probably be quite busy when you get there so just have Naruto show you around."

Kakashi stood up from his seat in the corner. "Yeah that would be good."

"Thank you again for your help, the kids really seem to love the classes so it would have been a great disappointment if we'd had to cancel them." Iruka said as he extended his hand to the taller man.

As Kakashi shook his hand he said. "Don't worry about it, I owed Genma one and I have a lot of free time during the weekends anyway."

Naruto was about to follow the older man out when Iruka pulled him back for a moment. Making sure Kakashi wouldn't hear him he leaned closer to his son and whispered. "So, that the guy then?"

Naruto glanced at his instructor's back before he answered his dad. "Yeah thats him."

"Alright, let's see what I can do." Naruto looked at his dads smirking face. Maybe letting Iruka in on the retaliation hadn't been such a great idea. Iruka was a person who was always, and liked to be, extremely busy. Sitting at home with nothing at all to do was clearly ticking him off, and if Iruka was anything like Naruto had been when he was at his worst then being bored with nothing but free time was a very dangerous combination.

Naruto almost felt sorry for Kakashi... Almost. The bastard had it coming after all.

x.x.x.x.x

Once Naruto and Kakashi were out of the house Iruka reached over to the coffee table and picked up his cell phone. He pushed speed dial and waited for his partner to pick up on the other end. On the third ring Genma's tired voice came on.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Genma, sweetheart. I need you to do me a favor." Iruka said sweetly.

"Oh no. No, no, no. I know that tone. What ever it is I want absolutely no part in it so don't you sweetheart me you devil."

"But Geeenmaaa." The older man could practically _hear_ the puppy dog eyes blinking at him through the phone. "It's for Naruto, he's being bullied!"

"What! By who?" Genma might look like the easy going dad but there was no way in hell anyone messed with _his_ kid and got away with it.

"That friend of yours, Kakashi. Now here's what I need you to do..."

Genma listened to his lover as he listed all the things that needed to be done. "Alright doesn't sound too horrible, I'll see what I can do. God remind me again to never get on your bad side, something tells me you'd find something even worse to prank me with."

"What on earth do you take me for." Iruka said innocently. "I would never prank you... I have way to many _other_ things I could use to _punish_ you with."

As Genma said goodbye to his partner he shuddered. Knowing Kakashi what he was doing to Naruto was probably not that serious so he didn't really hold a grudge but there was no way he'd go against Iruka when the guy had made up his mind about something. Kakashi would just have to deal with it.

x.x.x.x.x

**Yes Kakashi was the replacement, I was trying to throw you off but I guess there is no fooling you guys.. At least I still have some secrets for this story.. I hope.**

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto reluctantly took the motorcycle helmet off his head, trying to hide his blushing face while looking at his feet intently. It gave Kakashi the opportunity to take his own helmet off and pull his bandanna down again without Naruto seeing.

Naruto had strongly refused to get on Kakashi's bike when they got out of the house earlier, he wasn't very keen on the idea of pretty much sitting glued to the guy's back how ever short the ride was, but the older man had finally managed to coax him on by saying they would be late if they walked. Naruto had of course been tempted to ask since when that had ever bothered the man but decided not to since he himself didn't want to be late. God only knew what would happen if the kids showed up before them and were let loose in the sports room.

On their way over there Naruto studied his companion closely. He'd estimated his age to be around Iruka's but according to his younger dad the guy was a friend of Genmas from school which meant he was probably closer to him in age.

"What? Did I just grow an extra head or something?" Kakashi asked all of a sudden. "I know I'm hot but you don't have to stare so openly." He added smugly.

Naruto just snorted at that. "Yeah right. I was just wondering how old you were. Genma said you were old friends from school but you don't look like your around his age at all."

Kakashi rubbed his head absentmindedly for a minute before he decided to answer the question.

"I'm 28 actually. I was a freshman when he was a junior in high school and we knew some of the same people."

"Oh.. wait, that should only make you 3 years younger than Genma but if your 28 then it's six years." Naruto said a bit confused.

"I skipped a few of classes in elementary school." Kakashi said casually like it was the most normal thing in the world. When Naruto only stared at him sceptically Kakashi added. "What? Just because I'm a pervert doesn't mean I'm not smart."

"Jeez he openly admits it." Naruto mumbled as he shook his head and walked into the sports room ahead of the taller man. He'd been right about Kakashi being 10 years older than him though.

"As you can see this is the sports room." Naruto said once Kakashi had entered after him. "It's nothing fancy but it's usable. This building used to be a grade school before they built the other one a few blocks away." Kakashi looked around the medium sized hall. It didn't have much, 3 ropes hung from the ceiling in one corner, 2 small soccer goals were lined up against one wall and there was a small storage room visible in another far off corner.

"We don't have a lot of equipment, mainly we just let the kids in here to play soccer or other games, I supervise here in the evenings along with the room next door." Naruto pointed through the door to another one a little further down the hallway. "We have an old ping-pong table there and some board games so I guess you could call it the game room. Martial arts is the only real classes we have here at the center since Iruka is a qualified instructor. So, like Iruka said, it's good that someone could come and take over because the kids really like the class." Naruto looked up at Kakashi once he finished.

Kakashi took another look around the room. "So, you like working here?" He asked as he looked at the younger man.

"Yeah I do. This isn't exactly a bad neighborhood but a lot of the kids that come here have troubles at home. Most of them just have parents who work a lot and are therefore never at home to take care of them but we get kids from broken or abusive homes as well. This center is pretty much just a safe place they can come to either for help and support or just to play with the other kids." Kakashi watched Naruto while he talked. He somehow looked a lot calmer now than he usually did, seeing it made him happy. Despite his past Naruto had turned out to be a great kid and Kakashi had a feeling this center was just as much a safe place for the boy as it was for the kids in the neighborhood.

"Genma and Raidou keep the center open pretty much from morning to night every day of the week." Naruto continued. "Me and Iruka help out when we have free time and my friends often come by to help out as well. Other than that we have a few volunteers who come and go."

"How do you manage to keep the place running?" Kakashi asked curiously.

"Well believe it or not this is mostly all funded by an even bigger pervert than you, he writes those books you're always reading."

"You're kidding me! Jiraiya actually funds this place?" Kakashi asked dumbfounded.

"Yeah, the center had a rough time a few years back, at that time Iruka, Genma and Raidou were pretty much keeping it afloat with money from their own pockets, which they didn't have a lot of in the first place. Then one day Jiraiya showed up at our home claiming to be my godfather, he said he didn't have any interest in taking me away from my dads but he wanted to help out in some way and when he learned about the youth center he payed up the whole mortgage, had the place renovated a bit and is now paying Genma and Raidou to run the place along with some of the upkeep. The rest is payed for by a few funds and donations."

"Poor Naruto. There must be something about you that attracts perverts." Kakashi said as he leered at Naruto.

"Hah! Tell me about it. I spent two summers traveling with the guy when I was 13 and 14 and the guy didn't do anything but spy on women the whole time. So believe me, there's not much you can do that would shock me." Naruto said as he walked a little further into the room and turned on all the lights.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure." Kakashi said cheerfully as he followed Naruto. "I might not be able to shock you but I know a lot of techniques that can make you burn up.." Kakashi whispered in Naruto's ear as he leaned over his back. Naruto snapped around and backed into the wall when he tried to put more distance between them. Kakashi only took a step forward, almost towering over the shorter boy. Naruto's breath caught in his throat as he watched the man lean down towards him slowly, he wasn't sure if he should bolt or just rip the mask of the guys face and kiss the living daylight out of him. Except it would probably be him that would faint from that action. He felt his body respond as the mans face stopped mere inches from his, he could feel the mans breath on his skin through the mask, the sole visible eye staring into his with an unreadable look.

Suddenly Kakashi straightened up and took a few steps away, confusing Naruto momentarily but he soon found out the reason for it when Konohamaru came bursting into the room. It just proved that Naruto was way to affected by the man, he hadn't even heard the young boy coming and Konohamaru was not known for walking around silently.

"Naruto!" The boy cried as he ran towards him. "Is Iruka alright? I just wanted to show him the move you taught me but Udon totally managed to distract me so I messed it up. Man I thought I had killed him when he screamed like that. Is he ok? He's ok right?" The dark haired boy blurted out in one go.

Naruto just chuckled. "Yeah he's fine, it's just a broken leg but it will heal in no time. Way to get me in trouble though." Naruto said in mock anger. "I said you had to practice the tackle before you tried using it in a fight didn't I? What were you trying to impress a girl or something?"

"Aw boss don't say it like that. I was _this_ close to getting a date but Udon messed it all up."

"I'm pretty sure you managed to do that all on your own." Naruto said matter of factly. "Well I hope you've learned something from all of this at least."

"Yeah. Never try to impress anyone with Udon around, he totally puts a damper on my groove." Konohamaru said knowingly.

Naruto hit him on the back of the head. "Wrong! It's to never do anything bad around Iruka that can be traced back to me."

The room started filling up with teenagers at that point, all of them greeting Naruto like a friend and chatting with him while they waited for the rest of the kids to get there. Once everyone had arrived Naruto had them gather around in the middle of the room where he introduced Kakashi as their substitute instructor.

Kakashi then took over the class, he paired them up and had them fight one on one while he walked around the room watching them and giving a few pointers here and there. He had decided to go easy on the kids on the first day and just see where they stood. Occasionally he would get Naruto's help in showing them how to do something properly or to teach them a new move. Otherwise he had Naruto walking around as well helping out who ever needed it.

The second class was the same age as the first, kids around 13 – 15 year old. The sport hall wasn't big enough for a large crowd to move around well enough and Iruka also thought it was best to have smaller groups so he could focus more on each student. Each class usually only lasted for about an hour but Iruka would always stay behind and either just chat with the kids or answer any questions they had about the training. Kakashi and Naruto didn't have the opportunity to do that though since the classes were all scheduled one after the other so as Naruto was saying goodbye to the first one the second group was already piling in. They did the same thing with this group, had them fighting one on one while they walked around and helped out.

After the second class they had a small lunch break so Naruto took Kakashi to the cafeteria. He didn't bother to stand in line with the other kids though and just headed right into the kitchen with the older man. Raidou was standing over the stove busily making burger after burger on the grill, he looked up when he heard the sliding doors and greeted Naruto joyfully when he spotted him.

"Hey! Naruto, long time no see, where have you been hiding? How have you been?"

"I've been good. Just joined a club at school so I haven't been around here much lately." Naruto said as he walked over to the scarred man and gave him a one armed hug.

"Yeah I've noticed. Suddenly it was only Konohamaru making a noise around here.. although he did manage to make enough racket for the both of you while you were absent."

"Hey! I do more than just pollute the airwaves you know." Naruto said with fake offense. "Now do your job and feed me." He whined. Raidou was almost like Naruto's third father, he was at least a very fun uncle and they always got along very well.

"Yeah, yeah.. Don't worry, even if I did have the desire to starve you I'd never do it. Iruka would kill me." Raidou said as he got a plate for the blond boy and put two burgers on it. "What about your friend over there, he need food too?"

Naruto looked over at Kakashi who had been standing back and just watching them. "Him? No he can starve." He said as he headed over to a table further back in the kitchen.

Raidou just laughed and shook his head before he turned to Kakashi. "Hey, long time no see to you too." Being one year older than Genma, Raidou had only been in the same school as Kakashi for one year but they had hung out quite a lot despite that for a couple of years since they had some mutual friends. "What are you up to these days? Still on the force?"

"Nahh." Kakashi said. "quit that a few years ago. "I'm a teacher at Naruto's school now along with running the martial arts club there."

"Oh really? Small world huh." Raidou said surprised. "I hope he isn't giving you too much trouble, the kid can be a down right pain in the ass you know." He raised his voice when he said the last sentence.

"Oi! Who are you calling a pain in the ass!" Naruto called back. "I'll have you know that that pervert there is messing with me not the other way around."

The scarred man just laughed at that. "Somehow that doesn't surprise me either." He said as he took another plate and gave it to Kakashi.

"Would you guys keep it down back there." Came an annoyed womans voice. "Your making more noise than the kids."

"Sorry Shizune." Raidou called back, he turned to Kakashi with a grin. "Well it was nice seeing you again. You should really come by sometime when you don't have to work, we can hang out like the old days."

Kakashi smiled as he took the plate. "Sure, I can talk to Asuma about it as well, he's working at the school too."

"Yeah I heard about that. What about that weird kid you used to hang out with, you still keep in touch with him?"

"Gai? Yeah he's an instructor with me at the school. If I ever feel masochistic I'll invite him along as well." Kakashi said as he walked over to where Naruto was sitting, giving his old friend a wave over his back.

x.x.x.x.x

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly. Classes 3 and 4 had kids around 9 to 12 years old and the fifth class had the younger kids, the youngest one there being 6 years old. Kakashi had just made the older group do some easy exercises, he'd taught the younger group some basics and had Naruto help him show them some advanced moves just for the fun of it, after that he had just let them play some games for a bit.

He watched Naruto as he interacted with the kids, running after them in a game of tag, rolling around with them on the floor and fake dying when some boys shot at him with their fingers. Naruto also broke up some play fights when they were starting to get too extreme and at one point he had seen him comfort a crying girl after she'd fallen and hurt herself. He found that he loved seeing this side of Naruto, unlike when he saw him at school or in the crowd at the train station the boy just looked so at home here. Like he didn't have a care in the world at all, no troubled past to catch up with him. Just then Kakashi realized that that was probably the case, these little kids were too young to know anything about Naruto's past and therefore he didn't have to put up any defenses with them, he could just be himself without worrying about being judged.

He really hadn't had any idea that Naruto had been adopted by Genma and his partner Iruka. He'd lost touch with most of his friends after graduation and even more of them after he became a SWAT member. The only person he never lost contact with was Gai and that was only because the guy was impossible to push away. He's been a bit surprised when Genma had called him yesterday and asked him if he could help out for a few Saturdays, he'd been even more surprised when he got to his old friends house and seen a picture of the two men with Naruto standing between them resting on the mantelpiece. He'd managed to recovered before the boy walked down the stairs in the flesh, literally.

Oh no, Kakashi didn't regret agreeing to his friends request at all.

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**I guess this is a good place to stop for now... Next chapter starts off on the same day but the events are different and having it here would only make this chapter wayyy longer than the once before. Not that you would mind but look at it this way.. now you get a new chapter and the next one isn't that far off.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Uh.. yeah. Nothing to say about this chapter except hope you enjoy it and again.. if you notice some text missing please let me know.  
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Naruto walked out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his dripping wet body. He rubbed his eyes tiredly before he rested his hands on the counter in front of the big bathroom mirror. He was reminded of the events this morning as he stood there and stared at the scars on his chest. Of course Kakashi had ended up staring at it, everyone did. Even his own gaze was drawn to it when he stood in front of a mirror shirtless. His mind summoned up the phrase the kids at the center used a lot.

"Cross my heart and hope to die." He mumbled to his reflection. If they only knew how close to home that sentence struck.

After a while he pushed himself away from the counter and dried himself before he put on a pair of boxers and jeans. He put his towel over his head and made his way to his room like that. He was halfway to his closet when his bed spoke up in an overly excited voice.

"Guess what man!"

Naruto whirled around too fast, tangling his legs in a pair of jeans he'd left lying on the floor and just as he spotted his best friend sitting on his bed he went crashing to the ground. Kiba stared at him in shock before he burst out laughing. Naruto wondered if he was doomed to be a laughingstock to his friends for the rest of his life, they sure seemed to be laughing at him a lot lately.

"Kiba you ass! Are you trying to give me a heart attack!" The seemingly innocent words were out of his mouth before he knew it. There was an awkward silence as he and Kiba looked at each other. He knew his friend was trying to hide it but he saw the boy glance at his chest a few times.

Kiba had quickly learned that certain things people said or did without realizing it were absolute taboo around Naruto. His friend's remark just now usually didn't fit in that category but it had obviously disturbed Naruto in some way. When Naruto pulled his towel down to hide his scar Kiba knew something was off, Naruto never felt the urge to hide his scar from his friend anymore. The dark haired boy decided his good news could wait until he found out what was bothering the blond.

"Did something happen?" He asked his friend.

Naruto looked at the floor before he answered, another sign that something was wrong, he had the habit of looking at the floor or the ceiling when he lied about his feelings.

"No, nothing happened." Naruto said as he stood up and got a t-shirt from his closet.

Kiba wasn't going to let his friend fall into the same old track. He knew the guy almost better than anyone and Naruto had the habit of pretending to be the happiest person in the world when he obviously wasn't. Technically it probably had something to do with the time he had spent being pushed between foster homes and schools when he was younger, not being able to trust anyone when he so desperately needed it, but personally Kiba just thought his friend was a stubborn jerk who refused to admit he had a problem to begin with.

"Fine, if you're not going to to talk to me about it I'll just go ask Iruka. Maybe he knows why you're acting all weird, at least I'm sure he would like to know that you are behaving a bit strangely." Kiba said as he stood up and prepared to walk out of the room.

"Ok, ok!" Naruto snapped as he rushed to his door and blocked his friends escape route. He put his back against the door and slid down it slowly with a heavy sigh. He sat hunched over for a little while before he finally spoke, his voice solemn and barely above a whisper. "I just hate it that's all."

Well it was a start but Kiba still didn't know what was bothering his friend. "Hate what?"

"This." Naruto said as he touched the left side of his chest with his right hand. "The scar... I _know_ I shouldn't think about it and I'm _trying_ so hard but it's nearly impossible when it's all everyone ever notices... Stupid isn't it? I have six scars on my face and people hardly seem to care at all but as soon as I take my shirt off it's all they can see."

"What brought this on?" Kiba asked thoughtfully. He had a feeling something more than his friends panic the other day had happened.

"Kakashi was here this morning. I couldn't see what he was thinking but he was staring at it pretty intently." Naruto said as he stopped staring into his lap and instead fixed his eyes on his orange hoodie that was lying on the floor next to his friends feet.

Kiba looked strangely at Naruto for a few moments, scratching his head in confusion. "Uhu.. I thought you might be getting pretty desperate but I never thought you were that desperate. What did you do, invite him over, sit on his lap and use the cliché pick up line 'Do you want to see my scars'?"

Naruto looked up at his friend indignantly. "I did not! Turns out he's an old friend of Genma's from high school and he asked him to take over Iruka's classes."

"You're shitting me?" Kiba said laughing. "So how on earth did he see you topless? Have a little moment in the locker room?"

"No! I walked down stairs without a shirt." Naruto had no desire to tell his friend he had been pants less as well.

Kiba stopped laughing when he saw the dejected look on his friends face. He sat down on the floor where he'd been standing and looked at his friend more closely. "Look, Kakashi has never showed any signs of disliking you no matter what. As far as I know he didn't show any reaction to your name, he's never glared at you or treated you badly in any way if you don't count the pranks. If I have to be honest I'd say he actually likes you. You saw how he acted with Sasuke and his fan club, if someone gets on his nerves he has no trouble with letting them know exactly what he feels about them and the once he does like he treats indifferently or with a little bit of interest at best. I can assure you he would not buy food for just anyone at the cafeteria or go out of his way to tease someone if he wasn't interested in the person. I know you hate it but not everyone who stares at your scar does it out of disgust or pity."

Naruto sighed again. "I know, it's just an anomaly that draws the eye. If I didn't have any scars I'm sure people would just stare at my blond hair or blue eyes because they're rare." He said as he rolled his eyes. "I'm just sick of it! I wish they could just stare at something else for a change."

As he finished the sentence his eyes landed on his orange hoodie again, it was the one he had designed himself with the burning sun logo. He stared at the design thoughtfully, not hearing the reply from Kiba. If you had a white canvass with a stain in one corner what was the best way to draw peoples attention away from it, he thought. You could always just paint over it but the stain would still be there underneath and if anyone cared to look closely enough they might be able to make it out. The best way to draw peoples attention away from anything was putting something even greater on display. If you painted something big and magnificent in another corner of the picture then people might not notice the stain as much anymore.

"I got an idea." Naruto said suddenly, cutting Kiba off mid sentence.

"Uh.. Alright?" His friend said confused.

"I'm getting a tattoo." Naruto said as he stood up and grabbed his sweater off the floor.

Kiba sat there dazed for a minute before he looked up at his friend. "You are?" Was the only thing he managed.

"Yeah, I am. Let's go." Naruto said as he pulled his sweater on and grabbed his wallet of his desk.

"You're going now?!" Kiba asked his friend, a bit shocked at how the situation was turning out.

"Yep, if we go now we should be able to take the train into town before the tattoo parlor closes."

"Well... not that I care about you getting a tattoo or anything, it's your decision and all, but don't you need a permission from your parents to get one? You're not 18 yet."

Naruto stared at his friend clearly annoyed. His friend who not only had to be blessed with a growth spurt when Naruto kept being short but also had to have been born earlier in the year than him and was therefore already 18. "Sometimes I almost hate you."

"It's not my fault." Kiba retorted.

"Yeah, that's why I said almost." Naruto looked at his calendar, it was only about 2 weeks until his birthday but he didn't want to wait until then, he'd made up his mind now for Christs sake. There was no way he could ask Iruka for permission, not that his father would be against him getting a tattoo he would just ask him why he wanted one in the first place and why he didn't just wait until his birthday. Naruto was tempted to call his pervert of a godfather and ask him to come along but the guy was probably out of town again on one of his "business trips" so Naruto was really left with only one option.

"Do you think your mom can come with us?" He asked his friend. There was no way he was asking Genma to come with him either since everything he told his older dad was later found out by his younger dad. Genma always said he didn't want to lie to his lover but Naruto knew the truth. The guy was a horrible liar and a coward when faced with Iruka and therefore told him everything the man might want to know, especially concerning Naruto, as soon as he knew about it so he didn't have to face him when the younger man inevitably found out about the matter later.

"Haha, we haven't done that in a while have we." Kiba's mom,Tsume, was, like Kiba's family in general, a bit wild and free spirited. Often when Iruka had banned Naruto from doing something he needed parental permission to do Kiba's mom had taken both boys and told everyone Naruto was her adopted son. "We can go ask her if you're sure you want to do this. Then I can show you what I bought today too!" Kiba said bursting with enthusiasm.

Both boys got out of the room and hurried down stairs. Naruto called out to Iruka once they got down to the front room that he was going over to Kiba's for a while. His only answer was the volume of the TV increasing, apparently Iruka was hooked on a new soap and didn't want anyone to disturb him. As Naruto and Kiba ran across their back yards the blond boy couldn't wait any longer.

"So what did you buy?"

Kiba just smirked at him. "You'll see." Not being able to contain himself he had to give his friend a clue. "Let's just say we'll never have to worry about catching the train again."

"You didn't." Naruto said shocked. "You bought a car?"

"Yep." Kiba said grinning as they ran past the corner of his house. "Ta-da!" He said as he threw his hands up and pointed at his car.

Naruto stared. Then he looked around and stared again. "Please tell me you car is actually parked _behind_ that one."

"No that's it." Kiba said cheerfully.

Naruto stared at the old Dodge A100 that was standing in front of Kiba's house. The very old, paint faded and rust filled, and did he mention Old, minibus monstrosity.

"You want me to go to school with you in _that_!" Naruto said, like Kiba had just asked him to accompany him to the prom wearing a pink wedding dress.

"Oi, no dissing the car man. It was cheap and in good condition. Just a few fixes here and there and a new paint job and this will turn into the ultimate chick magnet." Kiba said grinning as he walked over to the car and embarrassed Naruto even more by hugging the hood of it.

"Oh yeah I can see how all the old hippie grannies will swoon over it." Naruto said. Not wanting to put too much of a damper on his friends mood, it was his first car after all, he added somewhat cheerfully. "Well at least it's got space, we could gather up some people for a road trip now."

"Exactly!" Kiba enthused.

After showing Naruto everything from the windshield wipers to the rear door handle they finally headed inside to talk to Kiba's mom. They found her, along with Kiba's sister, bustling about in the kitchen filling up dozens of bowls with dog food. The boys barely had to mention their request before the woman was pulling them out the door almost more excited about it than they were. She kept crying about how her boys were becoming men and that she supported them all the way. And so Naruto found himself sitting slightly dazed in Kiba's new car on his way to the tattoo parlor with the two Inuzuka ladies chatting excitedly in the back, Kiba's sister had decided to tag along as well.

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Naruto walked into the tattoo parlor closely followed by the Inuzuka clan. The man behind the counter was huge and almost every visible part of his skin was covered in blue tattoos, the man obviously had a thing for the color because his hair was colored blue as well. He looked up as the bell rang and greeted them with a surprisingly cheerful yet gruff voice. "What can I do for you."

Tsume walked up to the counter and gave her best grin, one that was probably meant to be nice but always ended up looking slightly psychotic. "Yes my son here wants a tattoo."

The guy immediately looked over at Kiba. "I see, did you have anything specific in mind?"

"Huh?" Kiba looked away from the displays of tattoos lining the walls. "Not me, him." He said as he pointed over at Naruto.

The tower of a man directed his gaze over to Naruto and regarded him thoughtfully, he then looked over at Tsume again and then finally at the two Inuzuka siblings. "Let me guess." He said. "You're not 18 yet, you want a tattoo but you can't get permission from your parents so you got your friends mom to help out. Is that it?"

Naruto froze, thankfully Kiba's mom was a quick thinker so she stepped in. She leaned over the counter and beckoned the man to do the same, once he was closer to her she whispered.

"Look, my blond boy over there... He's adopted, I haven't had the heart to tell him about it. He just thinks he takes after my late husband. So if you could try not to draw too much attention to the fact that he's a bit different I'd greatly appreciate it."

"Oh jeez I'm sorry." The guy said guiltily. He straightened up and looked over at Naruto again. "So.. uh.. did you have anything specific in mind?"

Naruto, who had been standing next to Kiba looking at a picture of a huge dragon, walked up to the counter. "Yeah I was hoping you could do this." He said as he took of his sweater and showed the man the design on it's back.

"You make this?" The man grunted as he eyed the hoodie.

"Yeah." The blond boy said a bit defensively.

The man studied the design more closely, tracing it with his blue fingers as he looked it over. "Cool." He finally said. "You're pretty good. So where do you want it?"

"I was thinking of putting it here." Naruto said as he rubbed his stomach with his left hand.

"You sure? That's gonna hurt." Naruto just looked at the man with one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, yeah. Be a tough guy, but when you're screaming for your mommy in the chair don't say I didn't warn you." The man handed the sweater back to the boy. "I guess it would be best to let Hidan do this for you." He mumbled more to himself than Naruto. He turned around and yelled down a short hall in the back. "Hidan! You have a customer!"

"Fucking hell Kisame! Get some other fucking shithead to do it, I'm busy!" Came the annoyed answer.

The tall man rolled his eyes and mumbled to himself. "Jeez how many times a day must that guy pray to that stupid thing." Then he yelled at the man again. "Just get your ass out here and take care of the customer!"

Naruto leaned to the side and glanced down the hallway as he heard a door burst open. A pissed off looking man with gray hair reaching his shoulders came marching down the hall and into the reception.

"Ok, ok. So which one of you fuckers wants the fucking tattoo?" He asked angrily.

Naruto was tempted to point at Kiba but decided that since he was here he wasn't going to back down now. Besides, that Kisame dude was already pointing at him.

"Fine, fine. Come on." Hidan said impatiently. "Man such a pain."

As Naruto followed him down the hall he couldn't help but be reminded of his friend Shikamaru. All the man needed to do was tone down the anger a little bit and mumble "So troublesome." and they would be exactly the same.

They passed a couple of closed doors before they came to the room Hidan had been in. The guy ushered him into the chair and took the sweater from Naruto to look at the design. "Well that's gonna fucking hurt." He said a little too cheerfully as he started getting everything ready. "So you wanna get it all in one go or do you want to come back again?"

"All in one go." Naruto said firmly.

"Great." The man smirked. "Be sure to scream if it hurts, I love it when they do that."

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Two hours later Naruto walked a little unsteadily back to the front of the shop, fighting the urge to rub his sore stomach. The first thing he noticed was his heavily grinning friend who now had a bandage on each cheek.

"What the hell happened to you?"

"What? I got bored waiting for you so I decided to get some ink done too." Kiba said gleefully.

"On your face? I hate to break it to you but no matter what you do it's not gonna look any better. What on earth did your mom say about it?" He asked his friend.

"I believe her exact words were _Well shit I'm getting one too_. My sister got them as well."

If Naruto didn't already know that his friends family was a bit crazy he'd definitely think so now. He walked up to the counter and paid the giant blue man. Kisame grinned at him with surprisingly sharp teeth. "Didn't scream at all huh? Bet Hidan wasn't too happy about that. Be sure to come again if you want some more work done. Also if you have some more of those designs don't hesitate to come by and show them to us, we'd pay you for them if you're willing to let us use them."

"Sure, I'll think about it." Naruto said a bit surprised, he'd mainly used his designs for his own clothes before and no one had ever really complimented them. If he could make money from the doodles he made in his free time he'd definitely give it some thought.

Once they got out of the store and headed for the car Kiba stepped up beside him and put his arm around his shoulder. "Man you should have _seen_ the guy who did my tats, his face was _covered_ in piercings, the ones my mom and sister got looked pretty normal though. Oh and I swear there's a guy in there related to Sasuke, except this one was even more stuck up and anti-social." Kiba blabbed on before he got more serious. "So. How are you now? Feeling any better?"

"Yeah." Naruto said with a content smile. "I know it's crazy but.. I don't know.. It's just something I felt like I _had_ to do you know? I can't really describe it but I feel like I've taken all the anxiety I've had for the last few days and just sealed them away."

"Well that's good then man." Kiba said while he studied his friend closely. "I still wish you would talk to someone once in a while. Sealing something away isn't going to make it disappear you know, it's still going to be there waiting to get out." The brown haired boy sighed. "If you ever, and I mean pounding on my door at 3 o'clock in the morning ever, need anyone to talk to you know I'm there for you. And if it means you'll talk to me I swear I won't tell Iruka about it too."

Naruto embarrassed his friend slightly when he hugged the boy on the middle of the sidewalk. "Thank you, but I'm fine really." When that statement was met by a stern look, which was quite comical since Kiba was also blushing profoundly, Naruto added. "Yeah, yeah. Maybe not right this very moment or today and tomorrow but it's getting there. I feel much better now at least than I did earlier today."

"That's good man." There was an awkward silence for a moment before Kiba continued. "Sooo... Mind letting go of me now, people are starting to stare and unlike you I'm not about to come out of any closet any time soon."

"Oh sorry." Naruto said as he let go of his friend, he grinned and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Hey where is your mom and sister anyway?"

"Oh they went to that store over there." Kiba said as he pointed to a run down building. The old and broken neon sign over the door and the shady advertising on the otherwise boarded up windows clearly marking it as an adult store.

"I... Did so not need to know that." Naruto whined. "Let's wait in the car."

"Haha, I'm just kidding idiot. They're in the supermarket across the street getting us some soda. You should have _seen_ the look on your face dude, you are such a prude."

"Oh yeah, I'd like to see you get through a sex-ed lesson from Iruka with a straight face. He felt compelled to have a little _talk_ with me once he found out I was gay... And I'm pretty sure he was going by personal experience."

"Ok, ok, ok. You win. Please do not say anything more."

Naruto just laughed as he got in the car, his friend just never learned that Naruto would always win in this kind of an argument.

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That night when Naruto was getting ready to go to bed he stood in front of his mirror. He slowly unwrapped the bandages from around his torso like Hidan had told him to, the tattoo couldn't be bandaged for long in order for it to heal properly. After he'd finished he stood there, one hand holding one end of the bandages and the other slowly and carefully tracing the pattern on his stomach. He didn't know what had compelled him to get the tattoo but he didn't regret it.

An image of a nine tailed fox flashed through his mind. It all started with a tattoo and hopefully he had ended it all with one as well.

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**Thanks for reading so far =)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Alright my pretties.. I finally took time out if my busy schedule of knitting Christmas presents (why do I feel like and old lady!?) and playing world of warcraft to finish this chapter. **

**Hope ya like it.**

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Naruto was running again. Down the corridors. Up the corridors. _Searching_. Hitting dead ends and turning back. Opening doors and closing them again. _Always_ _searching_. He found some stairs descending into more darkness and ran down them. He entered a long hallway with aligned doors on each side. _Somewhere here_. He opened the first door. _Nothing_. The second door. _Not here_. Third door, fourth door, fifth door. _No, no, no_. A sound, coming from down the hall. Eighth room from the end. He ran to it. Grabbed the door handle. Bu-bump. _NO_. He snatched his hand back. _Not that door. _He backed up, hitting the opposite side of the hall. _Don't open that door_. Bu-bump. He turned around. _Have to get away_. Hand reaching for the door handle of the ninth door. _Have to hide._ Bu-bump, bu-bump. The door behind him burst open and a big hand grabbed the back of his shirt. Bu-bump...

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Naruto woke up with a start. He was covered in sweat, a scream dying on his lips just before it became audible. He was breathing hard but still felt like he wasn't getting any air. Subconsciously he started going through the same procedure Iruka had made him do when he was little. He closed his eyes and repeated the same words over and over again. _I'm alright. I'm alright. It's all over and I'm alright. There's no pain because I'm not hurt anymore. I'm not afraid because I'm safe now. I'm alright. _He wiggled his toes, moved his ankles, bent his knees and lifted his hips slightly. _My feet are alright. _Next he did the same thing with his arms. Moving his fingers, his wrists, bending his elbows and shrugged his shoulders. _My arms are alright._ He ran his hands over his chest and stretched his back. _My torso is alright._ And finally he rolled his head back and forth. _And my head is alright. Everything is fine. I'm alright._

After he finished he stayed still for a moment, eyes still closed while he took slow, deep breaths. Finally he felt calm and composed, he opened his eyes and looked at his alarm clock. It was 6:05, he didn't have to wake up to go to school until around 7 now since Kiba had bought a car and their classes didn't start until 8:30. He certainly didn't feel like going back to sleep so he got out of bed and headed for the shower.

The tattoo had kept the nightmares away for one night but now they were back, with a vengeance. Kiba had been right. Sealing something away didn't make it disappear... and apparently his seal was leaking.

After getting out and getting dressed it was still 30 minutes until the time he was supposed to get up on, a little over an hour until he had to head over to Kiba and go to school. He went over his school stuff and made sure he had everything for his classes that day before he snuck down to the kitchen to get some breakfast and make lunch.

He was sitting at the kitchen table staring at the wall when Genma came down the stairs 10 minutes later.

"When did you get up?" His dad asked him as he rubbed the sleep from his own eyes. "I thought you were getting up at 7."

"It is 7." Naruto said matter of factly.

"Reeeaaaalllly. So you woke up, took a shower and made lunch in what." Genma looked at the clock. "2 minutes?"

This was met by a raised eyebrow and a look that clearly said 'Fine, I give up'. "I woke up at 6 out of old habit I guess." Naruto lied.

"I thought your habit was to sleep like a rock until someone blew a foghorn in your ear and pried you out of bed with a crowbar." His dad said as he put the coffee on.

"No, that was your sick habit for a week when I was 15. Were you honestly trying to make me go deaf. Plus you do realize I've already had a severe childhood trauma without you adding to it."

"What, it was good for you!... and it was hilarious."

Iruka and Genma were men who did _not_ share the same views on upbringing. They did both firmly believe that talking about things helped but Iruka was more for the gentle approach, kindly asking questions while at the same time reassuring that everything would be alright. Genma on the other hand believed that facing your fears head on was the only way to completely get over them and move on.

Therefore when Naruto had first started living with them and Genma found out he was afraid of dogs, which reminded Naruto a little bit too much of foxes, Genma had lifted him over the fence in the backyard where the Inuzuka family kept said creatures. He then held Naruto's hand and explained to him, over the kid's cries, that there was nothing to worry about and that the dogs wouldn't hurt him. After staying there for a while, without being eaten by one of the mutts, Naruto had stopped crying. Genma had then gotten over the fence himself and held Naruto as the boy petted a friendly looking Labrador. It had been at that moment that Naruto had really met Kiba for the first time, they were classmates at school but had never really spoken to each other. They soon became inseparable and Naruto stopped being afraid of dogs.

The week Naruto was referring to when he was 15 had been when Genma noticed that the blond boy would startle at every loud noise he heard. So the man had taken it upon himself to not only wake Naruto up every morning with all different kinds of very loud noises, he'd also used every chance he got during the day to jump out at his son with a foghorn or something similar when he least expected it. After one week of this Naruto would calmly role over to the other side when his father tried to wake him up, but he did how ever get the nasty reflex of unconsciously punching things that startled him up close.

His fathers were total opposites again when it came to discipline. Iruka was hard and unyielding, although he was also always fair in his punishments and never falsely accused anyone, he didn't have to because the guy just _knew_ when you had done something wrong. Genma on the other hand would usually look at Naruto and say "You shouldn't have done that." "That wasn't very nice." "Just make sure Iruka doesn't hear about this" Or the scary version "_Wait_ until Iruka hears about this!"

Both guys did agree on one thing though. If anyone did anything _ever_ to hurt their son said person would be as good as dead. Because there was nothing that they wouldn't do for their little boy.

"So when are you heading out now?" Genma asked him as he poured himself some coffee.

"Soon." Naruto said as he finished the last piece of his toast. "Hey, you knew Kakashi when you were young right."

Genma looked up from his coffee cup. "Yeah. What about it?"

"Did he.. I mean was he always this.." Naruto paused.

"What, weird?" his dad said as he got a toothpick from his pocket.

"Well.. yeah."

"Son as far as I know Kakashi was probably born weird. I guess it didn't help that he had a pretty rough childhood."

"He did?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Yes, he did, and I'm not telling you squat about that. Just like I don't go blabbing about your past to everyone who's interested. If he wants you to know he'll tell you himself. Why the sudden interest? You're not planning the mans downfall like Iruka are you? Because your dad here already got his hands dirty helping out with that and I'd like to keep my involvement in this to a minimum."

"No, not really. It's just.. he seems to have some interest in me and I just can't figure out his motives. He really doesn't seem like the guy to pick on someone but it still feels like that's what he's doing." Naruto looked confused for a minute before he looked at his dad again. "And what do you mean you already got your hands dirty? What did you do?"

Genma just grinned around his toothpick as he stirred some sugar into his coffee. "Oh nothing serious, definitely nothing big. Although I'm sure if Iruka wasn't stuck in the living room these days Kakashi would be much worse off." Seeing the curious look on his son's face Genma continued. "You'll see what I'm talking about today. Don't worry, I don't want to spoil the surprise.. and the less you know the better because if you're not genuinely surprised that guy is going to know you were in on it. He's not an ex-SWAT member for nothing."

"Oh don't worry, I'm not even sure I want to know what you two did." Naruto said as he got up from the table and headed out into the hall to get ready to leave. When he reached the kitchen door Genma called after him.

"Naruto." The boy stopped and turned around to face his dad. "He's a good man. A really good man. What ever he's doing he's not doing it to treat you badly. Kakashi is the kind of person who doesn't try to make friends, if other people wouldn't walk after him wanting to get to know him I'm sure he'd be quite content with just being alone. So the fact that he's actually trying to get to know you, no matter how childish or weird the ways he's using are, is a very clear sign that he not only likes you but respects you as well." Genma said as he looked at his son with a very rarely seen serious look. "So before you go all out in getting back at him I'd say you should give him a chance first."

Naruto smiled warmly. He'd been feeling like this guy was just too good to be true but maybe it really was ok for him to trust him. "Alright, I'll give him a shot."

"You like this guy don't you?" Genma asked, smirking around his toothpick.

"Daaad." Naruto whined as he blushed.

"I take that as a yes then."

"Well... he's not exactly bad looking... and you're the one who told me to give him a chance so you can't say you've got something against him right?" Naruto said defensively.

"Well yeah, a chance to be your friend not a chance to get in your pants. But you're right." Genma said as he sighed. "He's a good man and I've got nothing against him."

As Naruto went and got his school bags and put on his shoes his dad continued.

"I'm still gonna kick his ass when he comes over to pick you up for your first date though. No ones taking my baby's virginity until I see a ring on your finger, a full health and mental check up, his bank book, criminal record and his family history and their records all the way up to the early 1700s. Damn pervert going after my baby, you're not even legal until after 2 weeks."

Naruto just grinned. "You're one to talk. I know for a fact that you and Iruka started going out when he was barely 17. I'm guessing you didn't just hold hands for a whole year."

"That's completely different." His dad called after him just before Naruto walked out of the front door. "Iruka wasn't _my_ son!"

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto ran passed the back yards over to Kiba's house. After waiting for his friend while the boy put on his shoes both of them got in the car and drove over to their friends houses. Shikamaru was waiting on his porch, as he opened the back door a loud womans voice could be heard from inside the house. Kiba and Naruto exchanged knowing glances before they greeted their friend.

"So... Your mom in one of her moods then?" Kiba asked conversationally.

"God don't even mention it. I'm beginning to think it would be better to just wake up sooner and take the train because then I'll be out of the house before the woman wakes up, but then I'd miss an extra hour of sleep. It's just too troublesome to think about." Shikamaru said as he got in and threw himself onto the second bench. **1)** "Nice car by the way, perfect to take a nap in." Which was exactly what the lazy boy got ready to do.

Naruto snickered and Kiba shook his head as they drove down to the end of the street to get Chouji. The boy was still finishing his breakfast when they arrived so they had to wait a few minutes for him to come out. Naruto and Kiba passed the time with friendly banter, Shikamaru was already fast asleep even though it was only about 5 minutes since he got in the car. When Chouji finally came out they could clearly see his dad stuffing his son's backpack with bags of chips and other snacks. The man waved to the boys as Chouji got in the car and they drove off.

They chatted like usual about nothing in particular as Kiba wove his way around traffic. Half way to their school Chouji leaned forward in his seat and looked at Kiba curiously.

"You've got something on your face dude." He told his dark haired friend.

"Huh? Where?" Kiba said as he rubbed his face with one hand, keeping the other one on the wheel.

"Right there on your cheek, looks like a red smear or something."

Naruto started laughing when Kiba continued to rub his cheek with his sleeve. "Yeah Kiba's got something on his face." He said between fits of laughter. "It's called a tattoo."

"Oh shit man." Kiba cried out. "Tell me sooner you moron, I just rubbed it really hard. You can't rub or scratch it for the first few days! How does it look? Is it damaged? Please tell me it's ok!"

"Jeez chill out man, the tattoo's fine." Naruto told his friend.

"Tattoo?" Came the lazy voice of Shikamaru from the back of the car. "Who got a tattoo?"

"Oh so the lazy bum decided to join the fun." Kiba grinned as he looked at his friend in the rear-view mirror.

"I don't think anyone can sleep through your annoying shouting, and believe me I sleep through a lot of shouting on a daily basis. So what's this about a tattoo?"

"Kiba just got one on his face." Chouji told his best friend.

"Not just one but two." Kiba said as he held up 2 fingers so his friends could see, as if just the number would confuse them.

"Damn Kiba you really didn't need anything to make your face look worse, it was bad enough as it was." Shikamaru droned.

"That's a bit harsh coming from you isn't it?" Naruto shot back.

"Whatever, I can't be bothered to worry about my look, it's too troublesome." Shikamaru had a point there. He'd had the same haircut and ponytail ever since Naruto met him in fourth grade.

"Whatever dude." Kiba said. "I'm not the only one who got one though, Naruto here got a huge one on his stomach."

"Really?" Chouji said enthusiastically around a mouthful of chips. "Show us."

"I'm not doing it now." Naruto said. "I'll show you once we get to school."

"Alright cool."

Kiba smiled slightly as he looked over at his blond friend. Just last week the thought of showing anyone his chest would have made his friend really uncomfortable. Sure the guy did take his shirt off in front of his friends but only if he had a reason to, like changing into his gym clothes or something. His friend even wore a tank top every time they went swimming so seeing him actually _offering_ to take of his shirt was a huge deal. Maybe the tattoo really had helped his friend out.

x.x.x.x.x

Once they arrived at their school they stopped momentarily at the parking lot where Naruto showed his friends his tattoo before they all made their way to their classes. Naruto and Shikamaru had graphic design with a pair of teachers Naruto absolutely loved. Graphic design was Naruto's favorite class out of all his classes and the teachers, Izumo and Kotetsu, definitely helped the class reach that status.

The two brothers, being fraternal twins, looked like night and day but more often than not acted like the same person, finishing each others sentences, thinking almost identically and the like. Both of them were the artsy type like so many of their other art teachers. Kotetsu always wore dark hair-bands in his black hair, which made his long and unruly hair spike out even more, he had a small well trimmed goatee on his chin and for some unknown reason he always wore a bandage over his nose. His brother Izumo tamed his wild hair by wearing a bandanna that pushed his hair down and into his face, he usually pulled it to one side though resulting in half of his face being hidden by hair, and although he didn't go as far as his brother in standing out he had the unusual habit of wearing only turtlenecks which he pulled up to cover his chin.

They were old friends of Iruka and sometimes volunteered at the youth center, teaching the children art. Therefore they could often be seen carrying huge stacks of paper and other stuff they needed for their classes around. They'd hit it off with Naruto almost right away when they first met him and often joked that he was their adopted triplet.

When Naruto walked into the classroom Izumo pounced at once. He grabbed him from behind in a tight hug, his twin advancing from the front, ready to tickle Naruto, giving him a playful punch or what ever else the crazy men had come up with. This time Naruto couldn't let them though so he brought his leg back, hooked it with one of Izumo's and tripped him while stepping to the side, which made the bandanna wearing man go tumbling into his brothers arms.

"Hey!" Izumo cried. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The black haired twin grinned. "Yeah, you're not supposed to retaliate." He said sarcastically as he made sure his brother had his balance again. "You're just supposed to be all helpless and take it like usual."

"Sorry." Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head and gave them a grin of his own. "I just can't let you roughen up my stomach for a while."

"What you got a tummy ache or something?" Izumo asked.

"Iruka really let you out of the house with an upset stomach." Kotetsu added.

Naruto looked around the room before he answered. Having come earlier than usual he and Shikamaru where the only students that had arrived for class. Seeing as how they were alone the blond boy grinned even wider at his two older friends.

"Nope, not a tummy ache. I got this." He said proudly as he lifted up his shirt slightly, revealing the lower part of his torso and the newly made tattoo.

"Oh that is cool man." Kotetsu said as he bent down to get a closer look.

"Awesome." Izumo said as he pushed his brother out of the way to look himself.

"Isn't that the design you did last month?" Kotetsu elbowed his brother to the side.

"What did Iruka say about it?" They both said at the same time as they finally settled side by side, their faces the level of Naruto's navel.

"Uh.. well... You see." Naruto began, eyes darting around the room like he'd find the answer to the question hidden in one of the corners.

"I think he means to say that he didn't tell either of his dads about getting it." Shikamaru droned lazily from his computer.

"Oh you are so dead." Kotetsu said as he straightened up.

"Worse than dead." Izumo added.

"We never saw this." The black haired man said as he pulled Naruto's shirt back down.

"We're not going down with you dude." His bandanna wearing brother said as he took a couple of steps back, like he'd just found out Naruto had a highly contagious plague.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Why is it that even men older than Iruka are afraid of him." He half mumbled.

"Oh you obviously haven't seen Kakashi today." Izumo began.

"His look has Iruka's signature written all over it with huge bright neon letters." Kotetsu finished.

"Well definitely brightly neon that's for sure." His brother agreed.

"We don't know what he did but it can't be anything big, they only just met this weekend"

"So we're absolutely not doing anything that can draw Iruka's attention to us as he sits in his lair and plots his evil plots."

"It should be illegal for that man to be bored."

"What on earth did he do?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Oh we're not getting involved." The twins said. "Not just because of Iruka. You definitely do not want to get on the wrong side of Kakashi, he used to be in special forces you know."

Just then more students started piling into the room so Naruto had to go and take his seat and the brothers had to start teaching their groups. Kotetsu handled the graphic design done on computers and his brother handled everything that had to do with designing without them. The class gave the students a lot of freedom, they could sketch and draw designs on paper, work on computers or even combine the two if they wanted. They could also choose what they made with their designs, weather it was a web page, a poster or something they printed on clothes even, although Naruto was almost the only one to use the last option.

For the rest of the class, which was in fact four classes in a row, Naruto worked on his designs. He wondered briefly what on earth his dad might have done to Kakashi but soon his thoughts were filled with this nights dream. Despite his cheerful behavior he was still feeling a bit uneasy since that morning. No one knew this but Naruto was actually an expert in hiding his true feelings, it was something he had learned while being tossed around in the foster system, he just usually chose to let the people closest to him, like Iruka, Genma and Kiba, know how he felt. Not this time though. He didn't really have any special reason for not telling them what was going on. For some reason he just felt that this time around they wouldn't be able to help, he felt like he had to see this one through on his own. And besides, he really wanted to, _had_ to, find out what it was he was missing and if making the dreams and uneasiness go away prevented that then he'd much rather still have them. He needed to find what he was looking for.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto's day went slightly south around lunch. He and Shikamaru had made their way to the cafeteria quietly, Shikamaru not saying much like always and Naruto lost in thought. It wasn't really out of character for the blond, who sometimes spaced out to his own little world when he was not being cheerfully loud, so Shikamaru didn't think much about it.

It happened when they had just reached the cafeteria's entrance. While Shikamaru walked over to the food line Naruto paused at the door, half of his brain still thinking about his dream that morning while the other half scanned the room for secluded seats.

Suddenly Naruto could feel a hand touching, grabbing, the back of his shirt and before he could think Naruto's ruffled instincts had kicked in. In a flash he reached back, grabbed the hand and pulled fast and hard as he bent forward. Sending the threat flying over himself and onto the floor in front of him. This of course caused the whole dining hall to go instantly quiet, all eyes glued on Naruto and the other boy. Who, when Naruto got back to his senses and realized what he had done, turned out to be absolutely the worst person imaginable to do that too. He'd not only just slammed the most popular boy in school down. He'd slammed the fucking student president down. Student of the moth, even the year. The boy who had pretty much hated him since the first day they met. Mr. Sasuke Fucking Uchiha.

The dark haired boy gave him his best death glare, that unfortunately didn't really work on Naruto seeing as how he'd lived with Iruka for a few years, while his friends Juugo and Suigetsu pulled him up off the floor.

"What the fuck is your problem dobe!" Sasuke began.

"Well don't fucking startle me like that teme." Naruto snapped.

"You were blocking the whole entrance idiot! I was just going to ask you to move!"

Before Naruto or Sasuke could say anything more the hall was filled with the screech of three banshee wails as Sakura, Ino and Karin all came flying to their poor Sasuke's defense, not that he needed it because Naruto was sure he and his two friends were sufficient enough to kick his ass from here to next Wednesday quite well on their own.

And so Naruto found himself standing there frozen as the three girls started both fighting with each other and fawning all over Sasuke, who had started to try to pry himself away from the crazy girls while his friends had been forced to back off if they didn't want to get caught in the cross fire. Naruto had actually started looking for the nearest emergency exit when he was saved by the arrival of his best friend. Well Kiba's action hadn't really been the smartest thing the dog loving boy could have possibly done but beggars can't be choosers and Naruto was willing to go along with anything if it got him out of this mess.

A loud whistle sound could be heard before the voice of his friend called over the crowd "Down bitches! Bad girls!" When this was met with dead silence Kiba looked around at the crowd, who he now held the unyielding attention of. "What? It works on dogs." He said cheerfully.

This of course did not go well with the girls and soon all three of them were having a loud verbal fight with Kiba. Although Naruto was thankful that the girls attention had shifted over to his friend it hadn't really helped him that much, it left the three boys free to approach him again, Sasuke back to glaring death at Naruto.

Shikamaru, noticing the commotion from across the room and knowing better than to let Naruto and Sasuke handle this, chose that moment to stepped in. "Look it's an honest mistake ok. Naruto reacts badly to being startled, he didn't mean anything bad with it. You understand right?" He said as he looked at Juugo. Everyone knew that although the huge boy looked like a pro wrestler he tended to be against any kind of violence, unlike his violent crazy friend and Sasuke, although the black haired boy didn't seem to care much for fights unless a certain blond haired boy provoked him.

They were in luck though because Juugo grabbed his friends shoulders and started to steer them away. This caused the girls to leave their fighting with Kiba in order to follow their obsession. Before he left Sasuke turned his head back and looked at Naruto over his shoulder, he looked like he was about to say something but then stopped. His face briefly showing a look of vary confusion before it went back to his emotionless mask.

Naruto calmed himself down before he looked at his friends. Thankfully Kiba hadn't noticed anything. He, like Shikamaru, had taken Naruto's action as his usual reaction to being startled and not something else.

Of course Naruto's friends spent the rest of the lunch break laughing and making fun of him, he laughed and joked with them like usual but something new was bothering him now. He couldn't understand Sasuke's reaction as he was leaving.

Sasuke on the other hand spent his lunch like he normally did, ignoring the annoying cat fight and clinging that followed him everywhere and not saying a single word. Unlike usual though something was bothering him. He'd expected to see a lot of things on the dobe's face. Anger, fear, annoyance, indifference, stupid pride because he'd thought he'd won or even his silly happy grin. What he hadn't expected to see was the lingering gleam of raw panic in the boy's eyes before he shook it off and looked at his friends cheerfully like nothing had happened.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto's day after that had gone by uneventfully. He'd gone to art history with Shikamaru, both of them snoozing off as Ebisu went on and on about some boring art period or another. Not that he had anything against art history in itself, he quite liked reading about it on his own, there was just something about this teacher that made it impossible for him to focus on the class.

He'd hung out with his friends outside while they waited the half an hour in between their last classes and the start of their club activities. Naruto had only learned recently that Chouji was actually in two clubs. He was in a cooking club as well as the bug club. Naruto hadn't realized this but normal clubs only gathered twice or thrice a week unlike the competitive once like the martial arts club and the chess club Shikamaru was in, those had practices every day to prepare students for competitions and tournaments and although it was really only required for them to show up at least three times a week most students tended to take them seriously and therefore turned up to practice every day.

When Naruto and Kiba showed up for practice the blond got ready to do something he tried to avoid almost as much as he avoided pissing Iruka off, catching the attention of his green beast of an instructor. He'd almost reached the man when he was saved by a very familiar voice.

"Naruto.. we need to have a talk." Kakashi said behind him.

Naruto, hearing a strangled sound coming from his friend, looked over at Kiba before he turned around. Once facing the man he could clearly see why his friend looked like he had just swallowed a bag of lemons and was trying not to screw up his face at the sourness. Sure the guy looked exactly the same as usual. He was wearing fit jeans and a thin turtleneck sweater, unlike the usual martial arts uniform he wore at practice, along with his customary mask and bandanna. The reason why his friend was choking on his own laughter was the fact that the usually silver haired man now sported a much brighter haircolor. Neon orange to be exact.

"Holy shit! What happened to your hair?" Naruto cried.

"Oh nothing really." Kakashi began cheerfully, every syllable dripping with sarcasm. "Just thought I'd try something different for a change." He said as he grabbed Naruto's arm and began steering him towards the Dojo. "Now about that talk I mentioned before..."

Naruto almost gulped as he was pulled into the house. They walked through the main practice hall and down a long corridor he'd never been in before in silence. He was on the verge of asking what this was all about when Kakashi suddenly pulled him into a room and in much too short a time Naruto found himself pinned to the back of the door, Kakashi standing dangerously close with both arms on either side of the blonds head.

"Wha.. what are you doing?" He asked. Cursing himself mentally at how breathless his voice had sounded.

"You know." Kakashi said lazily. His voice a husky whisper that sent electrical tingles through Naruto's body. "I knew you had the hots for me but you didn't really have to mark your territory so thoroughly by coloring my hair in your color. You could have just asked me out like a normal person."

"I.. I didn't.." Naruto's words trailed off as Kakashi moved closer. He could feel the mans breath on his right cheek. This time he did gulp.

"Oh really." Kakashi breathed into his ear. "Then who did?"

"I don't.." The blond felt a hand land on the door next to his left hip, he hadn't even noticed when the man had taken his hand away from his head. Unconsciously he moved slightly to the right, stepping even closer into the older mans arms and exposing his neck as he tilted his head away from Kakashi's.

Naruto felt fine hair brush the side of his face and hot air ghost over his skin before cloth covered lips connected with his neck. He was having trouble thinking. Breathing. Standing. Naruto was sure his numb feet would have sent him crashing to the floor if a knee hadn't found it's way in between his legs, a hip pressed agonizingly against his hardening member before it pulled away again. Naruto nearly whimpered.

"Who was it Naruto?" Kakashi said before he nibbled the blonds earlobe through the mask.

Naruto's body had completely taken over. All he could think about, sense or feel was Kakashi's scent, the feel of his body against his and the affect just the mans voice was having on him.

"Ir.." Naruto gasped when a hand slid underneath his t-shirt.

"Yes?" Kakashi encouraged him.

Naruto took a deep breath and grabbed the front of Kakashi's sweater. "Iruka told Genma to do it because you were picking on me." Naruto half mumbled half moaned.

"Really." Kakashi said, his voice suddenly all too normal, as he stepped back.

Naruto didn't notice the whimper he let out at the loss of contact. Both men stood there for what seemed like eternity, one holding the front of the taller mans sweater and the other's hand still concealed under the younger once t-shirt. Suddenly Naruto blinked a few times and then blushed down to his toes. He snatched his hands back and looked down, like he was willing the floor to crack open and swallow him whole. His eyes, unfortunately, did not land on the floor but the hand that was still stroking his stomach lazily. He was suddenly very well aware of the state he was in and seeing how his shirt was pushed up like it was the other man probably had no trouble seeing it as well.

"Why did you..." Naruto trailed off. He'd been expecting something when Kakashi had pulled him away, of course he had. Obviously the man would think he had something to do with the prank, since his dad had been thoughtful enough to leave a huge fucking screaming orange clue on the person. Naruto seriously didn't think his dad could have indicated him more unless he would have scribbled his name all over the guy's face with a permanent marker. He'd been expecting some kind of retaliation from the guy. He had not been expecting to be all but ravished against a door. A supply closet's door he realized as he finally took in his surroundings.

"It was the best way to get what I wanted." Kakashi said casually.

"Huh?" Was all Naruto's mouth offered. His brain was to busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on. One minute the man had sounded annoyed, then he had been molested and now the guy was just standing there like nothing was out of the ordinary.

"It got me the information I wanted didn't it." Kakashi said.

"Right..." Naruto said, still staring at the floor. Of course, how stupid could he be, no normal person would be interested in him. Not in that way. He was stupid to even hope that Kakashi had any interest in anything other than picking on him. "Of course."

Kakashi could see the change that came over the boy immediately at his words, he had meant it as a light joke to change the atmosphere but seeing the boy's reaction he'd obviously taken them for something else. His voice took on a dead quality and his body slumped. Kakashi felt anger fill his heart. Naruto didn't exactly look hurt, he could have understood it if the boy got hurt. Naruto just looked like he was used to being disappointed. No, not used to it. He looked like he thought he didn't deserve what he lost in the first place.

Kakashi glanced down when he felt Naruto pulling at the hem of his t-shirt, as he pulled his hand away he couldn't help seeing the black lines on the boy's stomach before the fabric blocked them from view. "What was that?" Kakashi asked.

"What?" Naruto said taken aback.

Suddenly Kakashi's hand had lifted Naruto's shirt up again, although this time it had been more of a yank then the seductive motion he'd used earlier. "That." The man said as he pointed at the mark.

"It's a tattoo." Naruto said as he yanked his shirt back down with a huff. "I won't be able to participate in practice because of it for about 2 or 3 days." The boy fidgeted a bit. "Now if you're done screwing with me then I'm leaving." He said as he turned around and prepared to open the door. The hand landing beside his head, holding the door closed, prevented his escape.

"Oh I'm not done _screwing_ with you." Kakashi's words sounded like a sworn oath. "Not by a long shot. But since your dads didn't think it was enough to exchange my shampoo with hair color, while I was away from my bag at the youth center, but found it necessary to practically marinate my spare clothes in itching powder as well it's just not going to be happening at the moment. Although they don't burn as much as they did I think it's going to take at least 2 more days for the rashes to go away completely." And with that Kakashi pulled Naruto away from the door, opened it and stepped out into the hall. As an after thought he turned to the boy again and added. "I guess I should be happy that Genma had the decency to leave my boxers alone."

As Naruto watched the man leave he noticed for the first time just how strained his walk looked, like it actually hurt the man to move. When Kakashi was out of sight Naruto closed the door again and slid down it. Sitting on the floor in the closet he couldn't help but laugh at the whole thing. He certainly didn't know what else to do. His dads had purposely, or accidentally, linked him right to the prank. The sexiest man he'd ever met had all but told him he actually _wanted_ him. And he was sitting on the floor in a fucking supply closet with a 'growing' problem that did not seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Naruto let his head fall back and bang against the door, his eyes landed on a big roll of tissues. Well, at least that would help to take care of one of his problems.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

**1)**

**Just for those who don't know a Dodge A100 is a small van with 2 seats in the front and 2 benches in the back that seat about 3 people each. (they have tons of other versions of the car but that's the one Kiba got). Not that it's important, I just wanted to clear any confusion that might possibly come up because I won't be describing the car in great detail in the story.**


	9. Chapter 9

***Sigh* You know... I was so thinking this story would be over in just a few more chapters but I got run over by plot bunnies who then backed up and ran over me again. I had no real intention when I wrote the thing about Sasuke noticing Naruto's feelings in the last chapter, it just came to me and I wanted it in the story.. thought it would be a good way to show how Naruto was feeling without having his friends notice it and such. **

**But then I started thinking about it, because of course there has to be a reason for Sasuke to notice it and while thinking about it the plot bunnies I mentioned before started mating and duplicating like there was no tomorrow and, needless to say, this story will have a bit more than just a few more chapters....**

**Also for those interested I've began working on the next chapter for Savior again, it's half finished at the moment and although I can't say when it will be out I can tell you that the wait won't be **_**too**_** long.**

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

In two different parts of town, in two different houses and two different beds sat two not so different men. Sure they looked like night and day. One dark and mysterious, his hair silver gray like the light from the moon and the stars. The other bright and cheerful, his yellow hair practically glowing with it's own light. But as different as the two men seemed to be they were both, at this very moment, thinking about the same thing. A little, rarely used supply closet.

Naruto was lying in bed, as much as he wanted to he fought the urge to judo kick himself into another dimension.. spontaneously combusting hadn't seemed to work. He felt like an idiot. He'd turned into a breathless mush almost before Kakashi had even touched him. And he'd had to jack-off in a fucking supply closet afterwards... at school, over a teacher. He was a man damn it not some blushing virgin schoolgirl from some hentai manga, throw in some "Kya! Sensei!" and he might just have been one he thought. Men weren't supposed to turn into whimpering messes at a few touches, Kakashi certainly hadn't been nearly fainting.

And that was another matter he was having trouble with. Sure the man had pretty much told him he wanted him.. but for what? For a laugh? A one night stand? A convenient sex partner he could ravish when ever he damn felt like it? Of course Naruto didn't want that but judging from his reaction to the guy he'd have a hell of a time trying to resist the tempting god of a man and he certainly wouldn't be able to manipulate him into a relationship. As much as he wanted to just throw caution to the wind and jump head first into what ever Kakashi was offering he knew he just couldn't do it. He was sick and tired of getting his hopes up and then being stabbed in the back. No matter how he thought about it it was just doomed to fail... at least he tried to tell himself that so he wouldn't start to hope.

He'd started with the first argument. Why would someone like Kakashi, who could probably get anyone he set his eyes on, want to be with him? The guy did know who he was didn't he? Well obviously Kakashi hadn't given a damn about that today so maybe that wasn't a problem. Next he tried to think of something practical, the man was a teacher and he was a student. Except that wasn't really so bad these days as long as the student was of legal age, which he would be soon, and both parties were discrete. They were both men didn't stop him either since more and more people were opening up to homosexuality and it wasn't looked down upon as much as it had been.

All in all Naruto was thinking he was pretty much screwed when it came to the silver haired man.. or maybe he would be pretty much screwed _by_ the silver haired man.

x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi's head was filled with the golden haired boy as he sat on his hard little bed in the one room apartment he was renting, scratching a little mutt absently behind the ears.

"What the hell am I doing?" He asked the dog. All the reaction he got was an almost sarcastic look from the little creature as if it wanted to say. "That's exactly what I was thinking.. asking a dog for advise."

"What the hell was I thinking?" He moaned to himself.

Today Kakashi had been planning to drag Naruto into his office and talk to him, well probably tease him and manipulate him into telling him who pulled the prank. He'd known it wasn't Naruto himself, the boy hadn't had any opportunity to get to his bag while they were teaching the kids and he'd gone straight home when classes were over, but he'd had a feeling it was somehow connected to the boy.

The next thing he knew though was that he was pressed up against a smaller frame that fit into his arms almost too perfectly, nibbling on skin that felt smooth even through the mask, he'd been tempted to rip it off to taste it.

"What the fucking hell was I fucking thinking!" He nearly whimpered, and Kakashi never whimpered.

He had _not_ planned to make out with Naruto. He had _not_ been planning on falling flat on his face, head over heels for the boy. He hadn't planned on anything with the boy when he'd recognized him one day on campus. He'd just wanted to see what kind of person the boy had become after his sorrowful past and see what kind of life he'd been leading. After that he had planned to back off. He knew he had no business doing it but he just had to know.

Well he knew what kind of life the boy had now. He had two fathers who loved him like he was their own and gave him everything he needed both emotionally and materially, he had friends who stood up for him and supported him and although some people treated him with either contempt or pity he breezed through life with a cheery attitude and optimism. Which said a lot about his character. He'd almost completely overcome his painful past and was now working diligently to give other children the same support he'd needed when he was young. The boy was strong both physically and mentally and the more Kakashi got to know him the more interested he became until he just couldn't get enough. He didn't want to back off. Didn't want to leave the boy again.

No, he hadn't planned to have much to do with the boy, and if he was going to get involved he was going to have to do it right. Not by jumping the poor boy and then trying to clear the mess afterwards, and there was a lot of things he had to take care of if he was going to start something with Naruto. He knew the boy had been through enough in his life so he didn't need Kakashi to burst into it and shake it up again. Kakashi carried a lot of his own demons from the past, ones that could only end up hurting Naruto.

He had actually been thankful for the painful reminder from his rashes when he'd pressed into the boy. It had given him enough sense to pull away. After failing miserably, by his own stupidity he admitted, to ease out of the situation he'd actually had to fight the urge to hightail it out of there. If he'd spent any more time inside that small room with Naruto he was sure he'd have lost the little thread of self restrain he'd managed to grab onto and completely ravished the boy right then and there. The little whimper from Naruto when he'd moved away had nearly sent him over the edge.

Walking to his office hadn't just been made difficult by the rashes and the cold shower he'd taken in his personal bathroom, that was connected to his office, hadn't exactly helped much.. If you didn't count the fact that it had washed out most of the orange hair dye, apparently the chemicals only washed out in cold water because he'd tried scrubbing it with hot water and soap enough times to practically rub off his scalp.

Kakashi really needed to figure out what on earth he was going to do about the boy.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Not much happened for the rest of the week. Naruto continued to go to school with his friends in Kiba's car. He watched his club as they practiced both because he didn't have anything else to do while waiting for Kiba and the rest and because he thought that even though he couldn't participate he would at least learn something by watching. Kakashi had continued to show up for practice an hour late, still showing little hints of discomfort as he moved. He too didn't do anything physical, opting instead to instruct verbally and having Gai demonstrate if needed. He'd recovered soon though and on Wednesday he was back to regular teaching. Naruto started practicing again the following day when his tattoo had healed enough to allow strenuous activity, although he'd only participated in warm up and some fighting stances and moves but not actual battle just to be on the safe side.

Naruto hadn't seen Kakashi much all week except for practice and then they didn't interact much besides what was required for the class, although Kakashi did tease him a little and chat with him when he was passing by where the boy was sitting. It made Naruto even more confused about the whole incident in the closet.

On Friday Naruto and Kiba went over to the younger boy's house after school, they had a small English assignment to finish over the weekend and had decided to get it over with right away since Naruto would have his hands full at the youth center on Saturday and neither of them felt like staying at home and studying on Sunday. Once they got there they were greeted by a cheerful Iruka on the stairs to the second floor.

"Hi Iruka."

"Hey dad." They both said as they ran passed the man. As an after thought Naruto stopped a few steps up and turned around. "You're not supposed to be climbing the stairs!" He told his father with consern.

Iruka just smiled warmly at his son's worry. "It's alright now. I went to the hospital again today. The break wasn't as serious as they first believed so they gave me a short leg cast, it's much easier to move around now." He indicated the much smaller cast on his leg with one of his crutches as he said this.

"Really? That's great, how long until it'll heal?"

"Oh it's going to take at the very least 3 more weeks I think, but now that I can move around I'll be able to work again. You and Kakashi will probably still have to substitute for me until then but if something else comes up I'll be bale to go and supervise the class, I hear there's a competition coming up in your club."

"Yeah." Naruto said thoughtfully. "I heard Kakashi mention it the other day as well but I'm not sure when it is."

"What on earth are you talking about." Kiba called from the door to Naruto's room. "The competition is in two weeks! And we have a training camp at school next weekend to prepare for it."

"What! Who told you that." Naruto asked surprised.

"Honestly man have you gone deaf? Gai sensei's been talking about it all week!" Kiba told his friend.

"Ah.. that explains it." Naruto said indifferently.

Kiba deadpanned. "You never listen to Gai sensei do you?"

"I try my best to ignore the guy yeah... Ow!"

"Naruto!" Iruka said as he put the crutch he'd just used to hit his son in the leg with back down. "You're supposed to listen to your teachers."

"Alright, alright." Naruto said as he went up the rest of the stairs, out of his father's reach. As he passed his friend he gave him a small glare and mumbled. "Can't see what the big deal is, you're the one who told me to ignore him in the first place."

Kiba followed his friend into the room and shut the door. "I said you would learn to ignore his behavior and the crap he spews, I never said you should ignore him completely. He is a teacher after all and does sometimes talk about important things." Naruto just stared at his friend, clearly not believing that statement. "Alright it's about as likely as it is for Chouji to go on a diet but it did happen and if you would have been listening to the guy you would have known.

"So what's this training camp about? We already have practice 5 days a week."

"Well they'll go over the other schools who are competing and the contestants from them, their strengths and such. They'll also spend a lot more time on one on one teaching to see where you stand, what your strength and weaknesses are, what needs to be worked on and what you could use to your advantage. But mostly it's just to make sure you don't slack off during the weekend and get in trouble before the competition, I hear they started doing it because sometimes before big competitions some contestants would seek out participants from other schools and start a fight, which will often lead to one or both of them being disqualified from the competition. There are also a few known cases of a rival school seeking out someone who shows promise to beat him up so he won't be able to compete." Kiba said as they took out their school things and got ready to start their homework.

"Huh..." Naruto said thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that... So we'll be stuck at school all day then?"

"Yeah, that's why they call it a training camp." Kiba said as he rolled his eyes. He fought the urge to ad a long duh! At the end of the statement simply because no one really did that these days. "We'll stay at the dojo for the whole weekend."

"Wait.. the whole weekend? So we're sleeping there too?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah." Kiba answered as he rummaged through his bag for his pencils. The brief look of concern that flashed on his friends face went unnoticed. "What? Afraid you'll be molested in your sleep by a certain pervert?"

Naruto blushed scarlet at that, remembering all too well what had happened at the start of the week. "No!"

"Don't tell me you're _hoping_ to be molested by the pervert." Kiba said with faked shock.

Naruto hit his friend with his notebook. "Am not!" He snapped at his friend. "Now can we just start studying and get this stupid thing over with!"

"Yes sir! Wouldn't want to keep you from doing your homework anyway.. it would probably piss off Iruka and seeing as he is now able to move around I'm quite sure I wouldn't get off with just colored hair."

x.x.x.x.x

That night when Kiba was gone and Naruto was getting ready to go to bed his mind kept drifting to the training camp that was coming up. It made him uneasy. The nightmares had been getting more real and more frequent all week and although he had thankfully escaped waking up screaming like he often did when he was younger, and had therefore not alerted his fathers to his condition, there was no knowing what would happen at the camp. He'd most likely have to sleep in the same room as every one else and that included Kiba. If his friend found out about the bad dreams he was sure to take the information straight to Iruka which would only make Naruto's situation worse than it was.

He didn't want to go through the whole drama from his childhood again. He didn't want any more sessions with therapists, talking about his _feelings_ and how every single thing made him _feel_. Honestly all they ever did was ask "And how does that make you _feeeeel_." like getting annoyed at something was going to solve all his problems.

He didn't want his friends and family treating him like glass either because one wrong move might send him into a fit, they still sometimes did that and as grateful as he was for their consideration he couldn't help but hate it as well, it made him feel weak... and different.. like he wasn't normal. And quite frankly Naruto would give a whole lot in order to become something similar to normal.

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto was running yet again. Down the endless corridors of the dark maze. _Please._ The ever shifting walls. The ever changing floors. _Please let me find it._ The dead ends that seemed to spring up out of no-where and the disappearing rooms. _I have to find it._ He searched endlessly for the stairs. For the hallway of doors. _I know it's there_. The walls started closing in on him. He felt like he couldn't breath. _There!_ He found the stairs and took them two at a time. Ran down the hallway. But then he stopped. The walls came closer and closer. Suffocating him. _Have to get there._ He knew his salvation lay behind the ninth door but the monster resided in room number eight. He took one step closer. Bu-bump. Another step. Bu-bump. With every step he took the harder it was to breath. The heartbeat got louder. His feet went numb. He reached his hand out for the ninth door. _Almost there._ His fingertips almost touched the door when he heard it. The slow ominous creek of the door behind him. He knew he should run. Should throw himself through the door in front of him. And yet he turned. Slowly twisting his head around. Towards the terror of his past. He opened his mouth and..

Naruto gasped in air as he bolted up in bed. He barely managed to strangle his own scream, grabbing his mouth with his hands just to be safe. He was covered in sweat and even though he felt like he'd been running a marathon he was freezing to the core. The nightmare was coming a few times a night now but it was by far the worst in the morning. Glancing at his alarm he noticed that he'd woken up at just about the right time. It was little over an hour until Iruka's classes started.

He got out of bed and headed for the shower, taking his gym clothes with him. He knew he'd be getting sweaty again later but he wanted to get the cold sweat off of him now. He felt filthy.. not exactly like he was dirty.. but more like he was tainted somehow.

After his shower he headed down stairs and ate a small breakfast. Genma was already at the youth center at this hour of the morning and he hadn't seen Iruka since he woke up. He pretty doubted that his father had gone to the center as well since he'd never get there on foot, even with the new cast, but the guy was usually up at this hour and he was no-where to be found in the house, he supposed Raidou might have picked him up with the van. The center had a small van which they used from time to time to buy or fetch stuff that couldn't be delivered to the premises. He knew he'd arrive early if he left now but he didn't have anything else to do at home so Naruto made his way to the center after he'd finished eating.

x.x.x.x.x

He'd just reached the gates when he heard the familiar sound of an engine. He looked around to see Kakashi parking his bike near the wall. The man had his back to him as he got off the bike and took his helmet off but Naruto could see him pull the bandanna down over the left side of his face. For a moment he wondered if Kakashi did indeed have a left eye that worked and he just kept it hidden because of the scar but the thought was fleeting, the bandanna had probably just been pulled up by the helmet as the man took it off, although how the man managed to drive or even get a license for the bike with only one eye was a mystery to him.

Kakashi purposely kept his back to the boy as he took his helmet off, his scar was a very distinct feature and he didn't want Naruto to see it, not yet at any rate. Kakashi was still trying to decide what the hell he was going to do about the boy. On one hand he felt like just getting on his bike and driving away somewhere where no one knew him but a much bigger part of him was telling him to stay put and face what ever this was head on. He didn't know if he'd ever have a future with the boy but at least he had the here and now and if that was all he was ever going to get he was going to milk every last drop of it before it ran out. At least then he'd have something to look back on later when the boy was gone.

When he turned around he saw the boy standing there looking at him with a slightly dazed look on his face. He looked tired but then again he was a teenager and it was a Saturday morning, he'd probably stayed up late playing video games or what ever it was the younger generation did these days. He'd started walking towards the boy when Naruto shook his head slightly and seemed to snap out of what ever it was he was thinking about.

"Did you hear that?" Naruto asked him.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Hear what?"

"The whole world crashing to an end, because surely that must be happening if you show up _early_ for anything. It's still a half an hour until the first class starts."

Kakashi just raised his eyebrow higher. "You know." He then cooed at the boy. "You look so cute when you think you're being smart."

"Yeah well it's better to at least think that your smart than actually knowing without a doubt that _you_'re and idiot."

"Ouch." Kakashi looked offended. "Someone certainly didn't get their coffee this morning."

Naruto was going to reply when an all too familiar foam cup was dangled in front of his face.

"As cute as you are when you're grumpy like a little child then I think it would be better for my ego if you drank that." The silver haired man said with a smile. The hair dye had completely washed out after a few more cold showers and Kakashi had successfully managed to convince himself that _that_ had been the reason for taking them in the first place.

"Well you're not cute at all." Naruto said indignantly as he took the cup, he hated being called cute.

"Of course not." Kakashi stated matter of factly. "There's nothing cute about being dead sexy."

Naruto just rolled his eyes as he started sipping the coffee, he didn't even want to know _how_ the man knew when he wanted one every single time, he'd stopped asking because the man always just came up with some stupid answer like following a little puppy into the coffee shop or something. He was beginning to wonder if the guy carried one on him just in case when ever they met and just gave it to him if he looked tired.

"So I hear there's a training camp next weekend." Naruto commented as they walked inside the slightly run down looking building of the youth center. The house had been re-modeled a bit thanks to his godfather but the renovating had mostly been done indoors for the time being. "How's that going to work out with the classes here?" He asked as he looked up at the man beside him.

"Don't worry about it." Kakashi said. "I took it into consideration and we'll both come here next Saturday to oversee the classes. Gai will be training the other club members while we are away and I'll train with you personally once we get back so you won't miss as much. We'll be going over your opponents in the evenings after training so you won't miss any of that."

"You know if you ever bothered to just show up on time for practice we probably wouldn't have to have this camp thing." Naruto said absentmindedly as he opened the gym hall, he had his own keys for most of the rooms at the center. He still wasn't very keen on going to this whole camp thing.

Kakashi regarded the boy for some time before he answered. He'd been wondering if he should go with his customary bullshit or if he should be serious for once. Knowing how the kid hated it when he gave him a silly answer and feeling like having a serious conversation with him for once he opted for the latter of the two.

"For your information I don't exactly arrive late for the classes, even though it might seem that way." Kakashi heard the boy snort next to him. "As much as you might think martial arts are all about fighting and learning techniques and stances that's not all there is to it. Stamina and strength are important as well and that's exactly what Gai is working on with you. First of all if I showed up at the start of practice it would only distract you all away from focusing on the warm up and strength exercises because you'd be anxious to start fighting, so I would just be in the way if I came. Second of all I don't _always_ use the time before I show up for something frivolous, I'm often just in my office taking care of some things from my classes or some of my substitute classes. And lastly." Kakashi winked at Naruto. "There is just no way I'm spending more time with Gai than is completely necessary."

"Well at least I can agree with you on that one." Naruto mumbled as he turned the lights on in the hall. He thought he sensed someone behind him but when he looked around he saw Kakashi walking in the opposite direction. He turned back to the wall and flicked the rest of the light switches. He didn't know what on earth was going on between them if anything. He'd caught the man looking at him from time to time during the week but Kakashi had mostly kept his distance and Naruto couldn't help but feel disappointed.

x.x.x.x.x

Well into the second class of the day Naruto was feeling far from disappointed, he wasn't particularly thrilled either though. It was in fact taking him all he had to not throw a fit that would rival even one of Iruka's bad tempers. The man either had no _idea_ what he was doing to him or he was doing it on purpose, and knowing how cunning the man must be there was no way it could be the former option.

It had started out slowly. Just a small lingering touch here and there as Naruto helped Kakashi demonstrate some moves. But then the guy had started to lengthen the time of the touches by slowing down the demonstration. Standing extremely close. Holding him tightly against himself in various grips. At one point the man had even had his knee between his legs, making Naruto almost sit on his thigh because of the hight difference.

The worst possible position would have to be the one Naruto was in at the moment though. Kakashi was showing the kids an arm lock technique. He'd slowly wrapped his arms around Naruto's upper arms, placing his palms on the upper part of his back near his shoulders, before pushing him so he was leaning forward. This wouldn't have been so terrible if it wasn't for the fact that Kakashi was also managing to pull Naruto closer to him while he did this, causing the younger man's ass to rest on Kakashi's hips. And Naruto was pretty certain that a move like this did not require them to to be so close to each other, quite the opposite actually since the move was designed to restrain people while still keeping them at some distance.

Thankfully Naruto was saved the humiliation of righting himself up again in front of the class by the lunch bell going off. He did not catch the smug look on Kakashi's face as he retreated out of there and headed for the nearest bathroom to cool down simply because he made sure to ignore the man completely as he left.

Kakashi just watched him leave before he made his way to the cafeteria grinning. Just because he didn't know what to do with the boy didn't mean he couldn't tease him a little.


	10. Chapter 10

**Yay, new chapter up.. I'm starting school tomorrow so you know.. updates might be happening a bit less often. I started a little "What's going on" corner at the top of my profile so if you are interested to see what's going on then check it out, it will contain the status of the stories I'm working on and if anything is going on... like that fact that my computer is getting repaired and I therefore had to borrow an old computer from my brother so I could finish this chapter.**

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x.x.x.x.x

Something was different. Something had changed. For the first time Naruto wasn't running. Stock still he was standing in darkness. No feeling... No sound... No smell... No taste... Only the endless black absence of anything.. everything. And yet he _knew_. Knew it was somewhere out there. Waiting for him. Searching for him as he searched for what ever it was he was missing.

Slowly he took one step. _Squish_. And then another. _Splash_. Slowly but gradually the world began to come into focus. Like when your eyes get used to the dark. Another step. _Splash_.

Naruto stumbled, almost falling flat on his face, if it hadn't been for the hands he flung out to brace himself with. _Squish_. The floor was wet, he rubbed his hands on his clothes as he stood up again. Looking around he could just about make out the hallway of doors. He was standing in the middle of it.

He looked at the two doors. Good and evil. Salvation and doom. He knew what he had to do but he also knew what would happen if he tried. With each step he took the world became clearer. His hands felt sticky. His feet splashed each time he took a step. He had a nasty taste in his mouth and the air smelled strangely metallic. He looked around, trying to find the source but the world was devoid of color. Only black floors. Black walls. Black doors. Everything was black.

As he slowly reached the doors he got ready for the attack. Wary. Hunched up. Arms crossed in front to block. But then, as he reached the doors, nothing happened. Nothing came at him. His heartbeat didn't pound in his head. No tails came swinging. He felt no pain. And as Naruto slowly turned and stared at the door of his nightmares he heard the faint sound of the door behind him clicking open. No violent burst of wood... just a small click and the barely there creak of a door opening slowly.

And as the pure white light came flooding into the hallway the color returned to the world.

Turning black into blood red.

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto bolted up in bed. Something that was becoming a habit as of late. He didn't have to try to suppress a scream this time though. It was rather hard to scream when you could barely breath, choking on your own anxiety. He tried and tried to calm himself down but nothing seemed to work, not the method Iruka had taught him, not the breathing exercises some therapist had given him, it was kind of hard doing breathing exercises when you were hyperventilating, and trying to think about something else was impossible.

It wasn't until Naruto curled up and smothered his face in his pillow that he was able to calm down just a little. Suffocating yourself usually tended to slow down your breathing and at that point he would have done anything to just make it go away, he was glad he still had the sanity to at least want that. During his more severe panic attacks when he was little he'd lost all ability to think, was only able to feel the raw terror racing through his body with no ability to stop it. Naruto shuddered, he never wanted to go back to that time ever again. He needed to find what on earth it was he was looking for and he needed to do it fast.

Naruto did release a small shriek when his alarm clock blared to life. He quickly shut it off and got out of bed, grabbing a handful of clothes from his closet before he made his way to the bathroom. He never once glanced in the mirror when he was in there and while he made his way down to the kitchen to prepare lunch and have breakfast he sincerely hoped he could spend the rest of the day in a similar way, without being noticed at all. He didn't know it but of course that wasn't about to happen.

By the time Naruto reached Kiba's house he'd managed to suppress his uneasiness at least well enough so no one would notice. At the moment he just looked tired which wasn't so unusual for him because he'd had insomnia on and off for years now. Not because of nightmares, just because he couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.

The car ride to school went by like any other day, Shikamaru snoozed in the back, Chouji munched on some potato chips or other snacks and Kiba and Naruto chatted or listened to music. Kiba was at the moment going on and on about some new anime he'd just started watching that weekend, something about death gods and cool swords and stuff, Naruto was having trouble keeping up with what his friend was talking about. He didn't have anything against anime or anything, he even followed a few shows himself, but he could swear that his best friend was the biggest closet-anime-nerd he knew. The guy didn't look or act anything like the "typical" nerd but get him started on the subject and he might just be able to manage to make the fat, pimple faced, glasses wearing kid who always wears anime t-shirts and shouts Ban-kai while pretending to engage in a sword fight with his friends look like one of the in-crowd.

When Naruto made his way to class with Shikamaru he remembered too late just what class he was going to and before he could react he was pretty much glomped from each side by Izumo and Kotetsu.

"Naruto.." Izumo began.

"Why aren't you at the youth center anymore?" Kotetsu piped in.

"We never see you when we come around anymore..."

"And it just isn't as much fun without you there to tease."

Naruto's head was flying between speakers like a referee at a ping-pong tournament. "Uh guys." He finally managed to squeeze in. "I'm in the martial arts club now, I already told you about that. I'm only at the youth center in the evenings now."

"Oh." Both men said, still holding the boy hostage between them. "Well that figures." Kotetsu said. "Yeah that makes sense." His brother agreed.

"Now could you let go so I can take my seat?" Naruto said after a brief awkward silence.

Izumo and Kotetsu both grinned over his head. "Well I don't know about that." The brown haired twin stated.

"Yeah we kind of like having you all to ourselves." His black haired brother said.

"Plus we haven't annoyed you all week so we might as well enjoy it now."

"But we suppose that if you speak the magic word we might let you off the hook." They said in unison.

"Let go or I'll tell Iruka." Naruto stated dramatically.

"Right." Izumo said as he took a step back.

"Sorry." Kotetsu said as he followed his brother.

"A simple _please_ would have been enough but that works well too."

Naruto made his way over to a work table in the back and got all his materials ready. He was working on more sketches like the one he'd used for his tattoo. Naruto had become fascinated with tribal markings a few years ago and they, along with kanji and Japanese folklore, often influenced his work greatly. His spiral design had been created from a combination of those two. And who knows maybe if he liked any of his new designs he'd think about taking them to the tattoo parlor and showing them to that blue giant.

Class had already started and Naruto had been quietly working in the corner for about an hour when Izumo came over to look at his work. The man pulled up a chair and sat down on the opposite side of the table, waiting patiently for Naruto to turn his music player off and pulling his earplugs out before speaking.

"These are pretty cool." He said as he picked up some of the boy's rough sketches. "Working with a theme this time?"

"Yeah." Naruto answered while he continued to work on the paper in front of him.

Izumo studied the sketches one by one. "I'd work on this one a bit more." He said as he laid one of them down. "This one doesn't look like you at all.... and this one here looks like it's got potential but there's something missing."

Naruto looked at the sketches his teacher was indicating. "Yeah I thought the same things." He said. "I also think this one here wasn't any good, that's why I stopped half way through."

Izumo smiled. Naruto was one of those students you didn't really need to teach at all. He went to work on his own, knew exactly what he was doing and if he ever ran into any difficulty he always managed to work it out somehow. It was just the kind of person the boy was really, he did the same thing in every other aspect of his life. What ever happened the boy found a way to work his way through it.

"So got any big plans for this Friday?" Izumo asked as he took one of Naruto's rejected designs and started working on it himself. It was Naruto's turn to smile now, the bandanna wearing man had a habit of taking work that had been rejected by his students and more often than not he managed to change it into a complete masterpiece.

"Hmm?" Naruto looked at his friend a bit confused. His mind was so focused on his work that for a moment he didn't know what on earth was so special about this Friday that he'd have to make plans for it.

"Yeah, for your birthday? It's this Friday right?"

"Oh.. Yeah." The blond boy said finally snapping out of it. "I don't have any plans... just the usual." He said quietly. "There's also a training camp this weekend at the club so I'll be going there in the afternoon."

"Alright." Izumo said as he stole another one of Naruto's pencils. He didn't ask any more questions, both of them comfortable enough with each other to just sit together and work. After about a half an hour Izumo was called away again to help another student and Naruto went back to listening to music and working on his sketches. He chuckled silently as he looked at the picture the brown haired teacher had been working on. He couldn't even recognize his old design anymore the drawing had changed so much, it looked amazing now.

x.x.x.x.x

Lunch went by pretty normally. Like usual he sat with his friends at one of the more secluded tables in the cafeteria. Naruto was at the moment being butchered entirely at chess by Shikamaru on one of those tiny travel chess sets the boy had brought with him to school. Of course Naruto never even came close to winning anytime they played but he still liked it, which was a bit weird since he was usually a very sore loser, because it was one of the few things he and Shikamaru did just the two of them. Chouji and Kiba had stopped wanting to play with the quiet genius years ago.

Chouji was at the moment busy plowing through tray number two of food and Kiba was loudly and very enthusiastically telling Hinata about something, Shino was sitting nearby reading a book.

"Yes!" Naruto said as he killed Shikamaru's knight with one of his pawns. "You just lost a good piece there."

"Hardly matters." Shikamaru droned as he moved his queen. "Check mate." He said as he stretched and rubbed his eyes.

"What!" Naruto snapped as he looked closer at the board. "Oh man, I didn't think you'd sacrifice your knight to pull that off." He whined.

Shikamaru looked at his friend with an unreadable look on his face. "Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to win." He paused for a moment as if contemplating something. "And sometimes you have to swallow your pride and admit defeat."

Naruto only paused for a second before he chuckled lightly. "Jeez man it's only chess. Well I'm gonna go and get my books, I'll meet you in class." He said as he got up and walked out of the food court. Feeling the eyes following him as he went, he'd been feeling like he was being watched for about a week now and it was getting on his nerves. He got enough stares as it was.

Shikamaru watched his friend go. This was way too troublesome for him to deal with... and besides, he couldn't really do anything unless his friend was ready to accept help, which he wasn't at all at the moment. When Naruto was out of the room Shikamaru glanced across the cafeteria at a certain black haired boy who was staring at the same door he'd seen his friend exit just a moment before.

Well... at least he could watch were this thing was going.

x.x.x.x.x

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Sasuke watched the blond boy leave the cafeteria from his table on the opposite side of the room. Despite what most people thought he'd never really hated the boy, he'd just never seen any reason to treat him kindly. They were polar opposites and Sasuke saw no point in going out of his way to be friendly with the guy, he never saw a point in going out of his way period. Uchihas were not brought up that way, especially him since he would now be the successor to the family business and everything that came with it after his brother had been disowned. It certainly wasn't his fault the loud and overly energetic boy was inclined to see his quiet and indifferent personality as a personal insult of some kind. Sasuke didn't try to pick a fight with the guy but if the blond wanted one he certainly wasn't backing down either.

"...suke"

Something was beginning to change in the way Sasuke thought about the dobe though. Ever since he'd seen that look of fear in his eyes the week before the solemn Uchiha had started studying the boy any chance he got. They had been class mates ever since Naruto got transfered into their grade school and Sasuke had never seen him be anything but obnoxiously mischievous and cheerful, which he'd found weird knowing what the kid had gone through just a few years before. After spending the week studying the guy he'd seen a whole new side of the blond he would never have imagined he had, probably because he usually didn't give the guy a passing thought at all except when he was screaming his head off in his face.

He'd seen Naruto quietly walking down the halls when none of his friends were around. Seen him greet some first years like they'd been friends for ages. At one point he'd seen Naruto try to help the old lady who worked as the headmasters secretary when she'd dropped some papers and then apologize and walk quietly away when the ungrateful hag had ripped the papers out of his hands and actually scolded him for touching her stuff.

"..asuke!"

But the worst part was when Sasuke saw Naruto hanging out with his friends. He pretty much wanted to grab that stupid dog loving best friend of his and stick his nose in Naruto's face asking why the fuck he wasn't noticing that something was obviously very wrong with his best friend.. And Uchihas never _ever_ felt compelled to do anything as uncool as that. He just couldn't, for the life of him, understand how none of the guy's friends seemed to notice that despite the fact that their blond friend was looking cheerful and relaxed he was also pretty much sending out S.O.S. signals in bold neon red letters over his head. The blond had bags under his eyes, would look around nervously from time to time and seemed to be slowly sinking into his own little fantasy world considering how often his friends had to lightly punch his shoulder to snap him back into reality.

"Sasuke"

Sasuke didn't care about the boy at all, at least he liked to believe that he didn't because Sasuke didn't care about anything, so he didn't quite understand how the guy's friends who were supposed to care about him the most were so completely blind to what was going on. But then again it often tended to be like that, family and friends were always the first people to believe someone when he told them he was fine simply because they _wanted_ to believe that everything was alright. Any sign that said otherwise was either unconsciously missed, misunderstood or intentionally overlooked.

"Sa. su. ke."

Sasuke finally snapped his attention to the pink haired _cockroach_, very rightly named since the critter just W_ould. Not. Go. Away_, and gave her his best 'Are-you-still-there-Just-leave-me-the-fuck-alone' glare. The girl only recoiled slightly before she opened her mouth again. Sasuke was more than prepared to drone out everything she might possibly say but one word managed to seep through.

"Blah blah, nag nag, yare yare, Naruto, nag nag.."

"Hnn?" Sasuke cut the girl off, although it was anybodies guess how the Uchiha's quiet hnns could be heard over the girl's loud voice, Sasuke could make a whole room go quiet with a well placed hnn.

"About Naruto. You can't just let him get away with what he did to you and I've seen the way you've been looking at him, you're plotting something. So what is it." The pink haired girl leaned in closer along with everyone else at their table, except Jugo who didn't care for violence and retaliation like the rest of them, curiosity shining from each of their faces.

Sasuke suppressed the urge to do anything so un-Uchiha like as to sigh in frustration over his so called friends. Instead he just calmly looked at them and spoke in his well known monotone, one word sentences. "Nothing."

"What do you mean nothing?" Ino butted in. They all looked like he'd just ripped the lollipop out of their five year old mouths. It wasn't his fault they'd gotten all excited over some huge revenge plot he never had.

Sasuke just gave them a glare, he didn't need to explain himself to these people. He only tolerated them because he certainly wasn't getting rid of them, Kami knew he'd tried often enough. The only person he remotely liked was Jugo because he didn't have the tendency to be annoying like hell and he was usually quite calm, but Kami help the poor soul who managed to anger the guy. Jugo was a down right monster when he got angry.

Sasuke got up and walked out of the cafeteria, making his way to his next class. As soon as he was walking away from the table he could hear his friends whispering enthusiastically about something. He chose to ignore it, it didn't concern him at all what other people thought of him.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto felt like the next time he'd yawn he would actually manage to dislocate his jaw or literally yawn his head off he'd been doing so much of it during the class. Ebisu was going on and on and on about the Rococo era and although he quite liked the paintings he wasn't so keen on the fashion. He couldn't for the life of him understand how making your ass look ten times bigger and about five times broader could have been ever considered fashionable. The women looked like they had three asses, one huge one in the middle and two big once on each side. The architecture was alright but a bit too flashy for his tastes. Add the fact that it was boring, stuck up, Ebisu who was teaching and Naruto could have been knocked out even if he hadn't been lacking sleep. The only thing keeping him awake was the knowledge that as soon as he'd nod off he'd start dreaming and he had no desire to wake up in a panic attack in the middle of class. Shikamaru had dozed off as soon as he sat down, the bastard probably knew the subject better than their teacher anyway. The only teacher who bothered waking Shikamaru up in class was Asuma and he only did it to annoy the genius not because he thought he needed to pay attention.

After class Naruto gave his friend a half hearted wave as they parted ways, Shikamaru heading for the chess club and Naruto making his way outside to wait for Kiba. The brunette had told him he'd be running a little late for some reason today so Naruto just headed for one of his usual hang out spots at school. This time he chose some stone benches, the pathway they were situated on connected the school area to the faculty offices and was therefore rarely used except by teachers. You could also reach the sports area from it and Naruto and Kiba often walked this way when they went to the club, other students preferred taking the main path, so Naruto thought it would be the best way to wait for his friend.

He sat there for a few minutes listening to music, trying to block out his thought process by blasting it with guitar riffs and drum beats. He supposed for the first time that he really shouldn't do that since the thought of going deaf and not hearing anything but his own messed up thoughts wasn't all that appealing to him. He watched the occasional teacher walk by, waving joyfully at Izumo and Kotetsu as they walked by with a mountain of paper each.

When he saw Sakura and Ino come walking down the path he leaned forward a little and looked at them thoughtfully. He knew the girls fought on a regular basis over Sasuke but this had to be a little bit extreme. Sakura looked like she had just been in a major fight, her hair was a mess and her clothes were torn in places. But then he realized it couldn't have been because of a fight with Ino because the blond girl looked perfectly composed as usual and they would hardly be walking to the offices together if they'd just finished a huge fight, plus despite looking pretty beat up Sakura looked otherwise perfectly fine, maybe Karin had something to do with hit. Naruto was tempted to go and ask if everything was alright but held back, he knew his concern wasn't welcome with those two. He supposed he'd hear about it later when Kiba had sniffed up the gossip and was spreading it around like it was the news of the century.

He wasn't expecting to hear about it as soon as he did and he certainly was not expecting Ibiki to be the harbinger of the news. He'd still been sitting on the bench listening to his music player when the big man stopped in front of him, indicating that he should turn his music off. When Naruto had done just that the heavily scarred and serious man looked a little lost before he finally spoke quietly.

"Naruto, you best come with me."

"Huh?" Was all Naruto thought off, what the hell could this be about. He was used to this behavior when he was little but he hadn't pulled pranks at school for years now, apart from a few innocent once he'd pulled on his friends. Definitely nothing bad enough to get him into trouble. "What's this all about?" He added as he followed Ibiki to the faculty building.

"You'll find out soon enough." Ibiki grunted out. He turned and glanced at Naruto and probably after noticing the confused and a bit annoyed look on his face he added. "Just... stay calm and try not to make this any harder than it's already going to be."

Now Naruto felt uneasy, the man had sounded a bit worried, and Ibiki was not a man who looked like he would worry over something trivial. His uneasiness only got worse when he was met by Kakashi at the front door, both men walking on either side of him down the hallways to the principals office. Kakashi rubbing his shoulder and telling him it would all be alright did _not_ help. He wanted to know what was going on and he wanted to know right _now_ damn it.

When he walked into the headmasters office the answer hit him in the face like a bag full of bricks. In a chair to the side sat Sakura, sobbing quietly onto Ino's shoulder. This wasn't the first time he'd been framed for something, he just hadn't been expecting it from those two. If people knew anything about him they knew he'd never lift a finger to hurt a girl, he rarely fought seriously at all except to defend himself. But unfortunately people tended to believe what ever other people said about him rather than him so this wasn't good.

He sat down in a chair in front of Sarutobi, the headmaster, when the old man indicated he should do so. This time Kakashi's hand on his shoulder felt much more comforting. Like he wasn't alone in this. When he realized Ibiki was still in the room too he felt a little better as well. Ibiki might give him crap in class but the man had never treated him unfairly and there was a sort of mutual respect in their relationship.

"Naruto." Sarutobi began and then paused. Like he didn't exactly know how to continue. "I've just received some grave accusations against you." If Naruto wasn't shaking in his sneakers at that point he might have noticed the look the principle had when he glanced at the two girls in the room, but as nervous as he was he completely missed it. It didn't escape Kakashi though and it made the man feel a little better. The look clearly said that he wasn't exactly buying the messed up story the girls had been spewing but there was no way he could dismiss something as serious as this so he was uncertain how to go about all this.

Naruto remained silent, Kakashi gave him a reassuring squeeze and remained silent himself.

"Miss Haruno here has just accused you of.. uh.. attempted rape..."

What ever else the man said was completely lost to Naruto. He couldn't believe his ears. He just stared at the old man waiting for him to suddenly smile and say "Gotcha!" but that wasn't likely to happen. Naruto had been expecting the man to say he'd been accused of beating the girl up or something along those line. But _rape_. This was serious. This was beyond serious.

The left part of his brain was at the moment calmly and logically going through the situation. He'd have to change schools, maybe he would have to move.. what if they decided to go all the way and press charges? He could probably go to jail for this.

His right brain how ever was anything but calm and logical and, being more chaotic than the other, decided to override the other side. So Naruto finally snapped out of his stunned state and all but hollered. "What the hell are you talking about?" The slight wince Ibiki gave at those words flew straight over the blond boys head, the mans plea for him to not make matters worse completely forgotten.

"So you are denying it?" Sarutobi asked calmly.

"Yes I'm denying it!" Naruto snapped again.

"He's lying." Ino cut into the conversation. "I saw him!" She said.

"Bullshit!" Naruto hollered back. "There's no way I'd do anything like that." He didn't feel it but Kakashi now had both hands firmly planted on his shoulders, both to calm the boy down and to keep him from jumping out of his seat and doing something stupid.

"Do you have any proof..." The headmaster began but was interrupted by the door bursting open.

"What ever they say..." Izumo called.

"He didn't do it!" Kotetsu finished.

Sarutobi just raised one eyebrow. "And what would you know about it?" He said.

"Well." Izumo began. "Knowing Naruto's schedule he's been with Shikamaru all day so there is no way he could have done anything to the girls at that time."

"So we suppose she is saying he did something to her in the last half an hour or so but we saw Naruto within that time and he certainly didn't look like he'd done anything but sit quietly where he was." Kotetsu added.

"That's not true!" Sakura burst out, looking more angry than hurt right now. "He did it! He tried to rape me!"

"I didn't touch you!" Naruto yelled back.

"Yes you did, I saw him do it." Ino yelled at no one in particular.

"Naruto would never do anything like that." Izumo and Kotetsu both stated firmly.

"How do you know?" Ino snapped at them.

"Because I'm fucking gay alright!" Naruto finally snapped, shutting everyone in the office up. "And if I wasn't I still wouldn't go anywhere _near_ you two."

When he managed to calm down a little it finally hit Naruto just what he had done. Sure he wasn't exactly hiding the fact that he was gay, his family and friends all knew, but he didn't think it was any of the girls business and he definitely hadn't been planning to come out of the closet to pretty much _all_ the staff at his school, because surely he'd screamed it loud enough to be heard almost to the other end of campus.

Well at least it had seemed to resolve the predicament he had found himself in because Sakura and Ino just sat there, mouths falling open and closed like goldfish out of water, both apparently speech less for the first time in their lives.

Sarutobi seemed to think this was all he needed to hear as well. He clasped his hands together and spoke a bit too cheerfully. "Right, I guess that settles this matter then. Ibiki would you be kind enough to take the girls and speak further about this with them. I'm sure you'll be able to find out how this.. ah.. misunderstanding started."

"Yes sir." Ibiki said as he led the two girls out of the room. Ibiki usually handled disciplinary matters at the school, it wasn't unless something serious happened that the matter was taken to the principal himself.

Next Sarutobi turned to the twins. "Thank you for your input in this matter, but I think you better get back to your club. I'm sure the students have gotten a bit restless and who knows what the crafts club will get into their heads to do if they are left unsupervised for too long."

"Uh yeah." Izumo said as he glanced back at Naruto.

"We'll do that." Kotetsu answered. They both patted Naruto on the back and told him in not so subtle words to come straight to them if anyone else tried to bother him.

When everyone else was gone Sarutobi looked back at Naruto and Kakashi. The man still had his hands on the boy's shoulders and didn't look like he was going to be letting go any time soon.

"Naruto." The principal began. "Do you have any idea why those two would accuse you of something so serious."

Naruto started to shake his head but stopped. "Well, I had a run in with Sasuke last week but it wasn't anything serious and I thought the matter was over and done with."

"I see." Sarutobi rubbed his temples before he reached into his desk and pulled out a pipe. Well at least Naruto now knew where Asuma got the habit of breaking school rules and smoking on campus. "I'm reluctant to do this and I hope you don't look at this as a punishment but from now on I think it would be best for you to spend all your free time here at school with Kakashi, you can help him do some chores or something."

When this statement was met by two rather defensive and a bit annoyed looks, both of them finding it unreasonable that Naruto got detention when he was innocent, Sarutobi continued. "Given the accusations I can't let you off scot free even if you were proven innocent and seeing how this matter might not be over I think it's best to not give them any opportunity to get at you. This isn't exactly detention, it's more to protect you."

"Alright." Naruto sighed. "I guess that's for the best." He was just glad this was all over, he'd gotten off wayyyy easier than he'd expected when he first walked into the room.

But as Kakashi steered him out of the office by the shoulder he couldn't help but think how fate must be having a huge laugh at his life right now. All he had tried to do was stop meeting this god awful sexy man and now he had to be with him almost every day and at any free time he had when at school. He swore that if he ever got his hands on that thread spinning bitch he'd think twice about his rule to never hurt a female.

x.x.x.x.x

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**Poor Naru... having to spend all that time with Kakashi... oh who am I kidding, who wouldn't want to spend a lot of time with a dead sexy man.**


	11. Chapter 11

**For those who want to know.. because I've been asked about this twice and I just felt like sharing.. I have no idea if I'm going to have Gaara and his siblings in this story or not. At this point I have a very small idea of where they could come into it, but their role would be so small that I'm not sure it's going to get into the story or not since other matters will be more important... But as I very often have one idea about a story and then later on decide to do a 180 degree turn and do something else then I'm not ruling it out completely... hey I was barely going to mention Sasuke in this fic at all and Sakura and Ino were pretty good characters when I first started this but look at them now.**

**Also I got word back and it has a much better spelling and grammar correction than open office that I have been using lately so spelling errors should have hopefully gone down a bit… sometimes it wants me to do things I don't see any problem with so who knows.**

x.x.x.x.x

_I am not happy._

He was standing in darkness again. Endless darkness that seemed to stretch on for miles. Suffocating darkness that seemed to press in on him so he couldn't breathe.

He closed his eyes and focused on just feeling. He shuddered as his senses started to work. He could smell that sweet metallic scent again, it was stronger this time and he almost gagged as it gave him a horrible taste in his mouth. He could feel the wetness under his feet, he knew now what he was standing in... what that wet sticky liquid was.

He gagged once again before he slowly opened his eyes. Needing, and yet dreading, to see his surroundings. In front of him he could barely make out the hallway that was now becoming so familiar. The colors of the world remained black.

He took a step. _Splash._ And another. _Splash._ The sickening sound of his feet hitting the floor were the only sound heard as he made his way to the doors. Once there he stopped. He listened. He waited.

Looking warily from one door to the other. Which one will it be this time. He prepared to take the final step towards the doors but as he lifted up his foot a shrill beeping sound dissolved the world.

x.x.x.x.x

_I am __**not**__ happy._

Naruto woke up like any other morning he'd had recently, breathing heavily and covered in cold sweat. It had been a similar version of the nightmare he'd had the night before but this time the dream had seemed even more graphic and real. Nothing had really happened in it, neither of the doors had opened, nothing had grabbed him but it still took him a little longer than usual to compose himself before getting out of bed and making his way to the bathroom. When he glanced in the mirror before he stepped into the shower he almost couldn't recognize himself. His skin looked pale, his eyes were bloodshot and looked like they were sinking into his head and for the first time he noticed that he was shaking from head to foot. When Naruto got out of the shower he took some time to freshen up his looks in front of the mirror, he couldn't do much about his bloodshot eyes but at least he didn't look like the living dead anymore, he just looked tired.

After he got ready Naruto headed over to Kiba's house. His friend was standing in the front yard watching a little Chihuahua go about his business. As he came up to the dog loving guy he could almost _hear_ the annoyance emanating from him and he chuckled half heartedly. As much as Kiba loved dogs he absolutely hated most small breeds but Naruto suspected it wasn't exactly the dogs themselves that he despised because when asked about it all his friend would grumble about was how they looked like little rats and were only good for being carried around by over appreciated celebrities. He probably hated the image the dogs had rather than the creatures themselves, which Naruto thought was proven right when his friend picked the dog up carefully and all but cooed at it as he carried it back inside the house.

"Thinking of replacing Akamaru are you?" Naruto asked jokingly. When Kiba had first found the pup he'd been tiny and his friend had carried him around inside his coat everywhere they went, Naruto still found it hard to believe that the huge white dog had ever been so small.

"With that _thing_?" his friend asked almost horrified. "I already got a gay little creature hanging around me all the time, I don't need another one." Kiba smirked.

"Oh the cruelty!" Naruto said dramatically as he put the back of his hand against his forehead and faked faintness. "And this is what you call your friends."

"Really? I always refer to you as 'that annoying little guy' but I _suppose_..."

"Yeah yeah." Naruto interrupted their mock insult fight. "So what's with the dog?"

Kiba shrugged. "My sister found him yesterday. We tried putting him in the fence with the other dogs but they didn't get along well so we're keeping him inside. Little bugger is getting the special treatment until we find someone to take him in."

Soon the boys were in the car and on their way to school after picking up Shikamaru and Chouji. They had English class first thing in the morning and then separate classes. Naruto was dreading going to school given what happened yesterday but he felt better knowing his friends would be with him and of course he now had to spend all his free periods with Kakashi as well thanks to Sarutobi, although he wasn't sure if that made him feel better or even more dreadful.

x.x.x.x.x

_As in the __**opposite**__ of feeling __**joyful.**_

The reason why Naruto was at the moment feeling the absence of joy in his life was not the fact that when he showed up at school he had received even more glares than usual. Apparently Sakura and Ino's lie yesterday had spread around already and, like always, people were silently taking sides in the matter. It wasn't exactly that people didn't believe the fact that he'd been proven innocent, there were just always people who didn't like him and had that little voice in their heads that said '_Well he __**might**__ have done it if he'd had the chance_'.

It wasn't the fact that people looked at him differently now either. Of course if people had heard of what Sakura and Ino had done they had also heard how the matter got resolved and so Naruto was now "officially" out of the closet at his school. Surprisingly it didn't change anything, no one treated him any differently than they usually did. The people who didn't like him continued to dislike him and the people who did didn't care at all if he was "straight, gay or a retarded baboon" like Kiba had so eloquently put it "because he was still who he was and they all still loved him."

_Practically on the verge of sighing loudly and proclaiming "Why, oh why, me?" _

Naruto wasn't _exactly_ in a bad mood either. He was, after all, spending more time with the guy he had an insane crush on. But when Sarutobi had said he should spend all of his free time at school with the guy the silver haired man really must have misunderstood him at some point. The reason, you see, for why Naruto was feeling annoyed as hell was sitting lazily in a chair next to his desk, orange book in hand and the unmistakable "I'm sexy and you know it" aura in full force.

That was how Naruto had found him when he got to his class that morning and that was how he still was now, a half an hour later. Naruto had decided to handle this matter in a mature way. That is he had decided to ignore the man completely, hoping that when Asuma arrived for class he would ask his co-worker to leave. But when said teacher had arrived and just grinned at the silver haired man before starting class Naruto audibly snapped his pencil in half and murmured something that, much to Kakashi's amusement, sounded suspiciously like "traitorous bastard".

Of course it wasn't all bad having Kakashi with him. He'd felt better having him there when Sakura and Ino had arrived for class, both of them glaring daggers at him like it was his fault their stupid plan had been ruined. He wasn't exactly glad that both girls were now being criticized and picked on for what they had done but they had dug their own graves and had no one to blame but themselves. Having Kakashi there had also stopped Sasuke from saying whatever it was he had wanted to say to him. He'd stopped in front of Naruto's desk and paused for a minute, looking at Naruto like he was about to say something and then glancing at the silver haired man and apparently deciding against it and just sitting down at his desk in front of the pair. Knowing his relationship with the raven haired boy the blond couldn't help but be relieved since whatever it was the guy hadn't said probably would have been less than friendly.

"Is that really how you write?" _This_ was the reason Naruto was annoyed.

"Yes!" Naruto ground out between clenched teeth.

"You miss spelled this word."

Their assignment for today's class was to read a chapter in Macbeth and then to answer some questions that Asuma had distributed at the start of it. Kakashi had remained silent as Naruto read, keeping himself busy with his own book, but when it came to answering the questions the man had started whatever it was he was trying to pull here. Asuma had told them to work in pairs and before Naruto could say or do anything Kakashi had pretty much declared himself as his partner and since the class turned out to have an odd number this was accepted without question since one student would have ended up alone otherwise. The man had turned out to be a lot less than helpful though, only bugging Naruto with stupid questions and criticizing his answers.

Naruto glared and then erased it, after pausing for a moment he glared at Kakashi again.

"There's no O in it." Kakashi offered.

"Right." Naruto mumbled as he wrote it down and started on the next question.

"Who on earth taught you how to hold a pencil?" Kakashi asked after a small silence. He was now sitting with his front facing the side of Naruto's desk, elbows propped on the edge as he leaned closer.

"No one, I just got used to holding it like this when I was little." Naruto said. He was used to giving this answer since people always got the urge to ask about it. Honestly Naruto didn't see why there was a right way and a wrong way to hold a pencil as long as the end results were the same, he was nearly positive that left handed people weren't bugged about it as much as he was.

"What, no one bothered to correct you?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto sighed and rubbed his nose before he looked at the man. He supposed that this really was just Kakashi's messed up way to get to know him so he might as well listen to his toothpick sucking dad and give the guy a chance. If he ended up getting hurt then at least he could just learn something from it and then move on... plus he could always cheer himself up with the fact that his dads would pay the guy back tenfold if he ever did something to intentionally hurt him. Therefore Naruto decided to lessen his defenses a little and answered the man truthfully."

"Honestly, I didn't know I was holding the pencil the wrong way until Iruka pointed it out when I was nine. All of my other teachers until then didn't really care what I did so long as I wasn't disrupting class or causing trouble. Which is also the reason I can't spell because I could barely read and write until my dad took me in and taught me how?"

When Kakashi didn't say anything Naruto looked over at him again. Of course there was nothing to see of the man's face because of the bandanna and mask but Naruto had the feeling that the man was smiling softly. He'd just turned back to his assignment when Kakashi spoke again.

"So is that why you like art so much?" The baritone voice was soft and oddly comforting and Naruto found that he quite liked this side of the man.

"Yeah.. it was the only subject I was any good at, along with sports, because it's pretty self explanatory. I didn't need anyone to help me with it."

After that Naruto and Kakashi spent the rest of the class chatting quietly about nothing in particular. It turned out that Kakashi had actually read something other than just his priced porn books and he helped Naruto answer the rest of his questions.

_The guy clearly said __**my**__ free time not __**your**__ free time._

x.x.x.x.x

Of course Kakashi wasn't stupid. He might be a genius in everything but social situations but that didn't mean he was completely hopeless in the matter. Despite not having a clue how to approach the boy in the beginning Kakashi had slowly but surely come up with a plan that should work, and if their conversation just now was any indication then he would say that it definitely was working.

Naruto, being who he was, was very wary and defensive around people he didn't know. Kakashi knew that suddenly approaching the boy with an attitude that stated "Hi there, I want to be your friend for no apparent reason!" was not very likely to get you anywhere. Anyone who did so would be thought to have an ulterior motive and quickly ignored. Therefore Kakashi had come up with the idea of pretty much just bugging, teasing and all in all being in the boy's face until he got used to being around him. This of course suited Kakashi very well because that's pretty much the kind of guy he was anyway.

Kakashi had never even dreamed that he'd be spending this much time with the boy. Naruto had never been a part of any club at school that he knew of so it was a bit of a surprise when he'd signed up for Kakashi's club. When Genma had asked him to take over some baby martial arts classes for his boyfriend he'd almost refused, but he hadn't seen his old friend in a long time and he hated spending the weekends cramped up in his one room apartment anyway. And of course Kakashi hadn't had anything to do with yesterday's incident, he'd been talking with the principle about some of his own classes when Ibiki had come in with the matter and of course he had stuck around when he'd heard just what was going on.

Of course the boy had handled the situation like only he could. He'd almost quite literally burst out of the metaphorical closet kicking and screaming, only realizing afterwards that he might actually want to consult with his brain occasionally before he acted. Not that Kakashi minded in the least because now he knew for sure just where the boy's interest lay. Of course his reaction in the supply closet had been a huge hint and Kakashi had been pretty sure the boy was gay or at least bi even before that but there was always the possibility that the boy himself either didn't know or was in denial about it. He was, after all, often not the first one to catch on to things.. when Kakashi thought about it the boy was seldom even the second, third, fourth or even the tenth to get with the program.

Kakashi wasn't exactly sure just why he'd found himself sitting in the blond boy's English class on a day that he had no classes to teach except for the martial arts club. He fought the urge to chuckle. Here he was... a man renown for being late for everything... and he was not only early, he was _extremely_ early... around 7 hours early.

He could of course intentionally twist the principal's words around to fit his own needs, sort of underneath the underneath, because surely when the man had told Naruto to spend his free periods with Kakashi he had also been asking him to look after the boy. And of course he actually had to be at school to do that. And really since he didn't have any classes to teach and nothing else to do he might as well just make sure no one bothered the kid in class. So him being there really didn't have to _mean_ anything, it was perfectly reasonable.

Of course Kakashi was smarter than to believe that. He couldn't really say he didn't know what he wanted anymore, couldn't pretend he didn't care when he obviously did. He knew he wanted to, had to, look out for the boy. He just wasn't sure if this need came from the past or the present. Long passed obligations or new found need. Not that it mattered because it came down to the same thing, he wanted Naruto in his life.

It wasn't going to be easy, at one point or another he would have to come clean and that was bound to cause a lot of problems. He hadn't exactly been lying to the boy but he certainly hadn't told him everything and what he'd been hiding wasn't exactly small or insignificant. Naruto would probably react badly when he found out that Kakashi had deliberately approached him, it wouldn't matter that Kakashi hadn't done it to hurt him because the fact remained that he had been deceiving the boy. It had been a brilliant idea at the time because he'd only planned on meeting the boy a few times, there hadn't been any need to bring up the past or worry about the future.

x.x.x.x.x

At lunch Naruto had admitted defeat. Kakashi had followed him to all of his classes so far and it didn't look like he was leaving anytime soon judging by the lunch tray that had materialized in front of him and the silver haired guy that was now sitting, a bit too close, by his side. He didn't mind the guy's presence so much anymore, he was sure there wasn't much else the guy could do to embarrass or bug him that would top what he had already done.

They were getting along pretty well by the end of his English class and although he got a lot of stares in the hallway he didn't really mind all that much. He was pretty used to people staring anyway and they'd probably be staring, or glaring, more openly at him if Kakashi hadn't been there. Thankfully Shikamaru was the only one of his friends who had classes with him for the rest of the day because Naruto could pretty much _feel_ Kiba grinning at the next table during class and he really didn't need to worry about his friend teasing him and possibly reveal to the guy that he had a huge crush on him. He still didn't know what the whole incident in the storage closet meant, if it had even meant anything at all to the guy, and he wasn't going to be admitting to any feelings just to have them used against him. It wasn't like it hadn't happened before. The closest thing he'd gotten to a relationship had been about two years ago when a boy from a neighboring school had confessed to him. Naruto hadn't been sure but the boy, Haku, had chased him around all the while telling him how much he liked him and wanted to go out with him. But when Naruto had finally let his guard down and admitted to liking him as well the boy had laughed in his face. Turned out he already had a boyfriend and they'd thought it would be funny to play a prank on him. Naruto hadn't even thought about approaching anyone after that. He'd gotten a small amount of confession letters from girls since then, at least two or three, but even if he didn't know he was gay he would have turned them down, not wanting to go through that again.

Somehow he doubted Kakashi was just after a good laugh but that didn't mean he was looking for any type of a relationship either.

They had just gotten out of drawing class with Anko… well in Naruto's case he had just barely survived drawing class with Anko. Of all the days for the woman to bring in a nude male model it just had to be the day that Kakashi stuck to him like a shadow. Naruto thought he would just about die to have to focus on the nude form and drawing it life sized with Kakashi almost breathing down his neck behind him. Alright the man was sitting in a chair about a feet away but he could have been breathing down his neck for all the good it did Naruto. He wasn't turned on by the model or anything, it was just really weird being in the same room with the man you had an insane crush on along with a nude guy. Plus it didn't help that Anko had grabbed his sexuality as a new way of teasing him and had spent the majority of the class telling him to look more closely at the model, describing the model in, almost sensual, detail while she corrected his mistakes and even though it was the first compliment she had ever given him he could have lived without her proclaiming loudly at the end of class how detailed and lifelike his picture was and what a great eye he had for the male body.

Naruto had just begun to breathe easy again in the cafeteria when a food tray had been placed in front of him and an all too familiar presence settled in the seat next to him. He'd thought the man had finally decided to leave him alone when he disappeared when they reached the food court but apparently the man had only gone to get something to eat. He looked between his dry sandwich and the mouth watering cafeteria food for only a moment before he put his homemade lunch away again and offered a small thanks before starting on the tray. He felt uncomfortable accepting gifts but it wasn't every day that he got a good lunch so he wasn't about to give up the opportunity, plus it would probably be rude to not accept it since the man had already bought it for him.

"So…" Shikamaru drawled from across the table.

Naruto looked up but when his friend didn't offer anything else he encouraged him with a small "Hmm?" of his own.

"What's going on?" His friend asked as Kiba and Chouji joined them at the table.

"What do you mean?" Naruto wasn't completely oblivious he knew perfectly well why his friend was asking, he'd already told them about what happened yesterday on the way home from school but he had been hoping to keep the fact that he had to spend his free time with Kakashi a secret from his friends. He could take their anger and protectiveness over what Sakura and Ino had done but like the situation was between him and Kakashi he really didn't want to hear any of their teasing or well meant advice about the guy.

"Well, either there is something you are not telling us." Kiba said with a mischievous grin. "or there is something you are not telling us." He finished with a serious look. Naruto was glad his friend's brain had decided to be a little subtle today of all days. He knew his friend meant that either there was something going on between him and Kakashi that they didn't know about or there was something else going on that required the two men to stick together like they did.

Naruto glanced uneasily at Kakashi. The man was just sitting there like it was the most normal thing in the world, like he had been friends with them all since grade school.

"Well… you see." Naruto began, not really wanting to tell his friends that he was all but getting detention for something he didn't do. They had all been outraged the day before when he told them what happened. They'd probably go livid if he told them he was being punished for it as well no matter what the principal had said. Thankfully Kakashi saved him the trouble.

"I'm assuming you know what happened yesterday." He said softly in that tempting baritone of his.

"Yeah." Kiba said reluctantly.

"Well the principal along with Ibiki didn't really think the matter would end there and therefore thought it would be best if someone looked after Naruto for some time until things cool down. Since I was there at the time, don't have many classes and am partly responsible for him as the head of his club it was decided that Naruto spend his free periods with me. He should be safe with you in class but we just wanted to make sure nothing happened today and I might be looking in on a few classes that you have with the girls during the week." Kakashi stated matter of factly.

His friends seemed a bit annoyed by that but also relieved and glad that they were making sure their friend was safe. Naruto was relieved as well and he really was happy to know that someone was making sure he wouldn't be hassled. He was glad that Kakashi had handled this because he'd probably grumbled about how this was pretty much detention or to reassure others that _he_ didn't get a chance to do anything, that they would have a witness to his innocence if something happened. But hearing him say that also hurt in an odd way. He hadn't exactly been thinking that Kakashi was spending the day with him out of genuine concern or because he cared for him but they had been getting closer since they first met at the train station and Naruto had started to believe that they could at least be called friends if nothing else and hearing that the man had been following him all day because the principal ordered him to or because he was responsible for him as his club instructor was rather disappointing. Not that Naruto had heard the principle order the man to follow him around but he'd been pretty upset at the time himself so maybe he missed or misunderstood something.

x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi could see a slight change in the boy after lunch. Naruto had gotten quiet and seemed to be occupied in his own little world. Kakashi wasn't sure what the cause of it was. It might have been his friends' questions at lunch, he had seen how reluctant Naruto was to answer them so he had made it sound like the principal had ordered him to look after the boy today. He knew Naruto knew otherwise since the principal had just said he should go to him in his free time but he had no desire to have those boys wondering why he was following their friend around like some love sick puppy and he had a feeling Naruto didn't want them to either.

The cause could also be that Naruto was just tired of the stares and attention he had been getting all day. No one had tried anything with Kakashi there but it could be tiring to be stared at and talked about no matter if it was out of interest, pity or spite. Kakashi should know, he was stared at everywhere he went because of his mask and bandanna. He didn't mind thought because the looks he got now where infinitely better than the looks he got without the cloths.

But there was also the possibility that this was completely normal for the boy. Kakashi hadn't spent an awful lot of time alone with him except at the train station and there hadn't really been any time to drift off in a day dream with all the hubbub and the ever moving crowd.

Naruto hadn't had any classes after lunch but Shikamaru had had a study period with some of the younger students, an agreement that had been reached between him and Asuma that he would get away with not putting in too much of an effort in class as long as he agreed to tutor at least twice a week.

Therefore Kakashi had taken Naruto with him to his office in the Dojo where they were still sitting. The silver haired man had been grading essays for his literature class and he'd asked Naruto to photocopy some brochures and assignments he'd be handing out to his class soon and then put some stamps on a few envelopes he'd have to send out. He was at the moment trying _not_ to think about the tempting pink flesh that was slowly torturing him as it licked each stamp.

After sitting there for about an hour absent mindedly chatting about nothing in particular Kakashi was jolted out of his thoughts by something the boy said.

"How do you know Tsunade?"

'_Shit_' he'd forgotten he had those letters in the pile he'd given the boy.

x.x.x.x.x

Naruto had already finished all the photocopies he had to do for the man and was now sitting at the other end of his desk lazily putting stamps on some envelopes. He knew the principal had said he could help the man with some chores or something in his free periods but this was utterly boring, he'd much rather be working on his sketches or something. Not that he was complaining since it wasn't hard work or anything but the stamps tasted like crap and his tongue was going numb.

Just to pass the time as he worked he read the name and addresses on the envelopes he was preparing. Some of them weren't surprising. There was one that was addressed to his godfathers company, probably an out cut from one of his books offering some free merchandise or something. Some of them were in envelopes with the school logo, most likely letters to students or their parents. Others just looked like bills for either personal things or the school.

What did surprise Naruto were the number of letters addressed to various charities and social groups, three of them he even knew. There was one to the orphanage he had been sent to when his parents died and another two to foster houses he had lived in for some time. He thought it was an odd coincidence but didn't mention it, not really wanting to talk about that part of his life. Another odd thing was that these envelopes didn't have any return addresses but when he thought about it it wasn't all that strange, lots of people sent nameless donations to charities, they got a few for the youth center now and then.

He kept working diligently until he came across a name that shocked him to the core. It was a name he knew well… too well… and granted he didn't know an awful lot about Kakashi but there was really no reason why the man should know this woman let alone be writing her letters.

It was the name of the attorney who had handled all of his matters after his parents' deaths. All of his parents assets and his inheritance issues, all of his moves between foster homes and finally his adoption. The woman had been more like his own personal social worker than his lawyer.

Why on earth would Kakashi be sending a letter to an attorney who specialized in family law? Turning the envelope around he noticed that this one too had no return information.

"How do you know Tsunade?" He asked the man sitting at the opposite side of the desk.

x.x.x.x.x

**0_o Uhmm… yeah, so sorry for the cliffy there.. this was soooo not what I had planned for this chapter but somehow the ending changed from Kakashi making a move on the boy and into that… like I said at the beginning I often don't have a clue myself where my stories will go except for the main plot. Everything else just sort of happens.**

**Don't worry though, there will be time later for Kakashi to make his move and I hopefully won't have to leave you hanging too long for the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Last chapter didn't have much mainly because it was just the start of this chapter… it was supposed to be just one chapter but it didn't work out that way and it would have been too long if this chapter here would have been put with it… and you would have had to wait a lot longer for it too.**

**Also read the notice I put on the top of my profile concerning Sasuke, if you don't care about Sasuke's role in this story then don't... but if you do then by all means read it because it explains a great deal about his role here and clears up a misunderstanding I have been hearing a lot about.**

**And also these commas here ; I don't know about them but **_**word**_** wants them in so I put them in… if that's wrong then what ever, I just figured the spelling and grammar correction thing would know more about it than me.**

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

For one terrifying split second Kakashi froze, his breath caught in his throat, his hands stilled momentarily and his eyes stared at the small dot of ink that grew slightly bigger under his still pen on the paper. But after years of training and then Special Forces he managed to force his feelings inside so nothing out of the ordinary could be seen from his behavior. His breathing seemed calm, what little could be seen of his face only showed mild curiosity, his posture remained relaxed, almost lazy even and he purposely finished writing the review he was on before he looked up. Despite all that his heart was beating so hard it felt like it was trying to break out of his chest and his mind was racing a mile a minute.

It was too soon and completely the wrong time. He knew he would have to tell him everything eventually but not like this, not now. He wasn't ready and there were just too many things to take care of, too many things to explain, and revealing them all now would only cause the boy unnecessary pain. Something Kakashi wanted to avoid at all cost. He wouldn't run away from this but he would handle this in a better way than he could possibly do right at the moment. This wasn't just something he could blurt out. "Oh well you see, it's a funny story really, I actually knew you when you were a kid. Oh yes. I was really close to your dad. So I actually knew exactly who you were when I purposely pretty much stalked you at the train station." Yeah that would work out well.

He made up his mind quickly. He wasn't going to lie but he wouldn't reveal everything just yet. Having decided that he looked up at the boy who was sitting across from him with a wary, questioning look in his eyes. '_Yes, definitely not a good time to tell him everything._'

"Hmm?" was all Kakashi offered, pretending not to have heard the question, to show that the inquiry hadn't affected him.

"How do you know Tsunade?" Naruto asked again as he held out the envelope, eyes never leaving his face as he waited for the answer.

Kakashi took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms and back before entwining his fingers together and settling his hands on the back of his head. He looked up at the ceiling as if pondering how to answer the question. Not that he hadn't already done just that but the boy didn't know that.

"She was my lawyer when I was younger." He said before glancing at the boy again. Not really a lie since she had actually handled a few things for him in the past.

"You had a lawyer when you were younger?" Naruto asked tentatively, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"Indeed I did."

"Why?" Naruto blurted out before he caught himself and added more quietly. "If you don't mind telling me."

"No I don't mind." Kakashi said calmly. He never liked talking about his past to anyone. Most of his old friends like Genma only knew half the story along with some rumors that were going around when they first met. But as he watched the young man sitting there, looking so much like the little boy he once knew, he found that he didn't care so much about it anymore.

Of course he had changed. The baby fat was gone, leaving a more mature and handsome face, and although he was smaller than other boys his age he was pretty fit. He wore darker colors now, mostly black but there was always some orange here or there as well, which was a big improvement in Kakashi's opinion since the boy had usually only worn orange.

But apart from that he was almost exactly like he remembered him. The unruly sunny blond hair, tan skin and the beautiful blue eyes, he even still had those goggles although they were now a different color. He'd always looked a lot like his dad but now he was the spitting image of the man.

After thinking about it for a moment Kakashi saw no reason not to tell the boy about his past, all he had to do was leave out the parts that had to do with Naruto himself and certain things that the boy shouldn't know just yet, if at all.

He gave a small sigh. "Where to begin?" He said quietly more to himself than the boy. "Well I guess it's best to start by saying I didn't really have a normal childhood by any means. I grew up with a single father, my mother died when I was around one or two years old so I never really knew her. My father, having been in the military since he was 18 and then Special Forces, really didn't have a clue how to raise a kid. He pretty much treated me like a new recruit, I had strict schedules and rules I had to follow and his idea of spending quality time together consisted of teaching me martial arts, tactics and weapon training."

Kakashi paused and looked at Naruto again; the boy was sitting there with a look of surprise and mild disgust on his face.

"Yeah I know, not the best way to raise a kid but it was all he knew how to do so I guess you could say he did the best he could. At least until…"

Naruto waited a moment after Kakashi trailed off; not really wanting to interrupt for fear that the man would decide he really didn't want to tell him after all. But when nothing else seemed to be coming he leaned forward a bit and asked. "Until what?"

"Until he killed himself." Kakashi said in almost a whisper. He stared at the next essay in his pile, not really seeing it. He hated how small and vulnerable talking about this always made him feel, like he was back to being the little kid he was when he'd found his father.

He cleared his throat and continued. "I was 12 when he did so they sent me to a foster home but having been raised like I was I never really fit in. I wasn't all that mature but I wasn't by any means a kid either. The grownups didn't know what to do with me and the kids didn't like me so I usually got into a lot of trouble and fights, which usually ended in me beating the crap out of the other guys since I was a much better fighter… and of course that only got me in worse trouble. I was sent between foster homes for the first year, none of them really wanting to take me in since no one could really handle me and by the time I was 13 I was pretty much living on the streets, hanging out with the wrong crowd and staying alive by not so legal means."

"_You_ were a delinquent?" Naruto asked, like the mere thought of it was absurd.

Kakashi chuckled, a sound that always managed to send pleasant tingles down Naruto's spine. "Yeeaah, I was a little bit more than just your regular shoplifting hooligan…" Kakashi said as he scratched his head, more of an old habit than a nervous gesture. "I was in a gang for a while."

"A gang?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Wait, wait, wait… I thought you were some super nerd who skipped a couple of classes? How can you jump between foster homes, live on the street and join a gang while still managing to not only do well in school but do so well that you actually skip grades?"

"You don't." Kakashi stated.

"But you said…"

"That I skipped a few classes in elementary school, that was long before my father died. And I was never a nerd; I only managed it because of my dad's strict schedule."

"Oh… well that makes sense." Naruto said thoughtfully.

Kakashi studied the kid for a while; he didn't seem to mind at all that he'd just told him he used to be in a gang. But maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, the boy knew better than anyone that you shouldn't judge people by their past.

"Anyway… something terrible happened just before I turned 14 that turned my life around…" Kakashi stopped again and stared at the wall, unconsciously rubbing his left eye through the bandanna. This was something he wasn't prepared to talk about, not even with the boy. "I… Ended up in the hospital and the cops got involved. That's when I met Tsunade, she handled my case."

"What happened?" Naruto asked, but when Kakashi sat up straighter and looked like he was about to evade the question he continued. "I mean… after that. What happened after the case?" He knew he wasn't always the first one to catch on but Naruto could read people rather well and it was clear that Kakashi didn't want to talk about whatever it was that had landed him in trouble and even though he was curious about it he wasn't going to ask.

Kakashi smiled. "I was taken in by the most wonderful man I've ever met." He said. It was nothing short of the truth because he honestly thought that Naruto's father had been one of the greatest men he'd ever known. "Even though he was younger than my dad he was one of his bosses in the Special Forces. He became my sponsor and I lived with him and his family for awhile before he got me my own space. He got me into a training program for the force, I was still too young to join and almost everyone else thought he was mad for doing it but it really was the only thing he _could_ do for me. It was how I'd been raised until then and anything else just made me restless."

Naruto raised one eyebrow. "So what made you quit and go into teaching?"

Kakashi looked away. Quitting… yeah that's what everyone believed he'd done. "Let's just say training for something is a complete different thing from actually doing it. It's sort of like martial arts, you can train and go to tournaments but no matter how much you fight in a situation like that it's nothing at all like being in an actual fight. You have to follow rules, there are people there to observe and essentially you aren't fighting to _hurt_ the opponent."

Seeing the confused face the blond boy was making he decided to make an even clearer example.

"Playing paint ball with your friends is fun, doing it for real with real guns is not only a different story but a different genre entirely."

Naruto looked slightly horrified at that. "Oh… I'm sorry; I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"It's alright." Kakashi stated calmly as he picked up his pen again and started fiddling with it absentmindedly. "I'm sure you've got your share of bad memories as well." He added as he looked pointedly at the boy.

Naruto squirmed a bit in his seat. "I don't…" He began but then stopped. His eyes fixed on the envelopes he'd been working with, only glancing momentarily at Kakashi before going back to the stack. "I don't remember any of it." He finished quietly.

"Indeed." Was all Kakashi offered before he started grading papers again, telling Naruto without words that this conversation was over with if the boy wanted it to be.

Naruto didn't have a clue what Kakashi meant with that one word but he was glad the man didn't try to pry any further. He was beginning to trust him, especially after the man just opened up to him about his past like that, but he didn't feel comfortable just yet with telling him everything he knew about his past. He didn't have to remember what happened because the facts spoke very clearly for themselves but there were still things about the case that not many people knew about, things that hadn't been leaked to the media at the time. There had been plenty of rumors going around at the time though and some of them still lingered around him even now, one in particular that he feared would come out. Both his fathers knew and he'd told Kiba as well but he didn't want to tell Kakashi about it just yet.

He traced the scars on his chest unconsciously before he started putting stamps on envelopes again. He'd have to tell him eventually, but not until they'd become a bit closer. Hopefully then Kakashi would understand… would see him as whom he was and not the… thing he carried.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

After a half an hour more of licking stamps Naruto felt like he'd never feel his tongue again, unless it was to taste that god awful not-quite-glue but not-quite-anything-else that he had been licking again and again. Honestly, how many letters did the guy have to send out? If he didn't know any better he'd think Kakashi purposely put off finishing the letters until he could dump them on some unsuspecting student during detention… or, apparently in his case, under protection. Although Naruto couldn't see just what Ino and Sakura could ever come up with that was worse than slowly killing his taste buds, surely never feeling the flavor of ramen ever again was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him… ever!

"Something wrong with your tongue or is this some kind of a weird way to tempt me with your mouth?" Kakashi's amused baritone voice suddenly asked.

Naruto looked up in confusion but soon, to his horror, found that he had absentmindedly been half gaping with his tongue lolling out as he tried to get the numbness and taste off of it. He quickly composed himself before he blushed and mumbled. "It's the stamps. My tongue's all numb and I can't get the taste off it."

Kakashi looked at the last two essays in his pile before he decided to just fuck it, he could finish them later. He stood up and made his way around the desk. "Come on, I'll get you something to fix that." He said as he lightly patted Naruto on the shoulder on his way to the door.

Naruto put the last of the envelopes in the pile with the rest and quickly got up to follow the man. He could have just gone and gotten some water from the drinking fountain in the dojo but decided not to mention it, he was glad for the company even if it was just because the man was doing his job. Walking around and stretching his legs after sitting cramped up against the wrong end of a desk was an added bonus as well.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

He'd just caught up with Kakashi in the hallway and taken a few steps alongside him when his thought process was momentarily thrown into complete chaos before it decided to take a small holiday along with the feelings in his legs. He had just about enough time to notice when he was grabbed by one of his upper arms and pulled through a door, which a small part of his brain found recognizable, into nothing but blackness. He would have panicked due to the similarity it held to his recent nightmares if it wasn't for the fact that almost as soon as the door closed behind him and cut off the light from the hallway he found himself pressed up against said door with a pair of lips pressing against his in a similar fashion.

At some level of his consciousness he realized that Kakashi had taken down his mask and was kissing him but that thought was pretty drowned out by his whole mind and body screaming at him that the stunning god of a man was _actually kissing him!_ He blindly grabbed the front of Kakashi's shirt, tilting his head slightly back to give the man better access to his mouth.

The taller man didn't need a better invitation than that and when Naruto gasped as he pressed their bodies closer he slid his tongue into the boy's mouth, tasting and teasing that tantalizing muscle that had been driving him crazy for what seemed like hours now.

He knew that given their situation this was undoubtedly _not_ a good idea. Not that he had at any point of the day been planning on dragging the boy into the supply closet again and kissing him senseless no matter how inviting the boy's mouth had seemed when he slowly, and agonizingly, licked stamp after stamp. He hadn't even been planning on that five minutes or so ago when he told the boy to follow him. But somehow taking the boy to get him something to drink had morphed into him taking the boy into a very dark closet where he could pull his mask down without being seen and mend the boy's numb tongue with his own. Not that he was complaining but this was certainly not bound to help the situation any in the future and he had a nagging feeling that he'd be kicking himself over this later but that didn't change the fact how good this felt right now.

It was therefore against all better judgment that Kakashi deepened the kiss further, sliding his hands away from the upper arms he had been holding, up over firm shoulders, a soft neck and into silky strands of hair. He tangled his fingers around them and pulled them closer as he angled his face slightly to the side to get better access to that sinful tasting mouth beneath his.

He could feel Naruto hesitantly kissing back, his lack of experience evident but not off-putting. The boy's eagerness more than made up for it and Kakashi was happy to learn that this was one of the things the boy was apparently not slow on the uptake on. He was thrilled when Naruto slid his hands from the front of his shirt and around his neck. Making it possible for him to press his body closer to the smaller frame once the arms were out of the way.

Naruto pressed his arms against the back of Kakashi's neck and shoulders, simultaneously pulling the man closer and holding himself up better. While the feeling in his tongue seemed to be amplifying each second his legs seemed to be losing theirs and when Kakashi's mouth moved from his own to trail kisses along his jaw before his teeth and tongue latched onto his earlobe he was glad he'd changed his hold because he had a feeling that if he hadn't he'd be lying on the floor in a puddle of bliss. He could hear an amused hum in his ear as a moan escaped his throat but he didn't care, no matter what the sound had been intended as he found it incredibly sexy.

He couldn't see a thing but he had a distinct feeling that Kakashi was smirking as the man took his hands silently and pinned them against the door above his head with one of his, the other hand trailing down his side and coming to a rest against his left hip as the man's mouth claimed his own again in another deep kiss.

The onslaught of sensations were sending electrifying currents all over Naruto's body, all of them seeming to head to the same place of his anatomy. He could feel his hard on rubbing gently against his boxers as the man slowly moved against him.

Kakashi was amazed at how well the smaller body fit to his, how right it felt in his arms. He slowly slid his hand under the boy's shirt and trailed random circles over the smooth flesh with his fingers. He swallowed a small cry when he took a step closer to the boy, maneuvering them so that he had one knee in between the boy's legs, his hip pressing against the boy's now apparent erection. He moaned as well when Naruto's pelvis rubbed against his own hardening cock.

He felt the boy tense up slightly as he started sliding his hand further up under his shirt but didn't have time to think much about it because suddenly the alarm on his watch went off. He groaned as he reluctantly ended the kiss, resting his forehead temporarily against Naruto's before he slowly started to entangle himself from the boy.

He could hear the disappointment and confusion in the younger man's voice even though he only uttered a short "Wahh?" While Kakashi went about sorting them out.

"It's time to go to the club." He said softly, not even bothering to try to hide his own disappointment. "You've already missed the hour of warm ups with Gai so we really can't… delay any further."

"Why didn't you tell me practice started an hour ago?" Naruto sounded more breathless than annoyed.

"I think we both had other things on our minds." Kakashi said quietly as he finally managed to pry his hand away from the boy's firm stomach, it seemed to take more willpower than he was comfortable with.

He took a deep breath to compose himself, urging the boy to do the same. After five minutes that seemed like hours he'd managed to get a firm enough grip on himself.

"Are you ready to go?" He asked Naruto.

"Uhm… not really no." Naruto told the floor embarrassingly. "I… can't seem to calm down."

At any other time Kakashi would probably have laughed but he didn't want to bother the kid, he sounded uncomfortable enough as it was. "Just try not to think about it and calm down."

Naruto snorted. "I'm a healthy young man. This is pretty much _all_ we think about."

Kakashi did chuckle at that, not knowing that by doing so he wasn't helping Naruto's little problem in the slightest. Well he did have the definite mood killer, he just hoped the boy wouldn't be too mentally scarred by it.

"Well then there's only one thing you can do." He said matter of factly.

Naruto looked in the general direction of the man's face. "And that is?"

"Think about all the things we just did in here…"

"How is that gonna hel…"

"And then imagine Gai and Lee." Kakashi finished.

There was dead silence in the supply closet before Naruto's disturbed voice spoke up. "I… think I'm going to have nightmares for a whole different reason tonight."

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Naruto was walking with Kiba back to his friend's car. He was feeling ridiculously pleased and felt like grinning his head off but held himself back, not wanting to look like a complete lunatic. His thoughts were interrupted when the dark haired boy punched him lightly on the shoulder. He looked over to see the smirking face of his friend.

"Sooo… What were you and Kakashi up to before practice?" His friend asked far too innocently.

"Nothing. I just helped him put some stamps on a bunch of envelopes while he graded papers." Naruto said with the straightest face he could.

"Either that's not all you did or there was something seriously wrong with those stamps. You've been grinning like an idiot all practice…"

Alright maybe he hadn't been able to hide it _that_ well.

"Not to mention you show up an hour late looking thoroughly fucked and pleased with yourself. That added to the fact that you blush like a schoolgirl any time you see a certain pervert and that you both avoided each other for the rest of the practice clearly indicates…"

"Alright, alright!" Naruto blurted out as he grabbed his friends mouth to silence him. He looked around frantically making sure no one had heard him before he half whispered. "We… made out in the supply closet."

"WHAT." His friend shouted but added more quietly "What?" When Naruto shushed at him with a firm glare. "In the supply closet? Oh my god! My innocent little friend is finally spreading the wings of his sexuality." Kiba said with the air of a proud parent hearing their kid got their first A at school.

Naruto groaned. "Just… don't tell Shikamaru and Chouji alright? I know I'm not gonna hear the end of it from you but I'd rather not spread it around before it gets serious."

"You just made out in the supply closet! That's like going steady at our age." Kiba said very seriously.

"Yeah well he's not our age, and you know what I mean… alright?"

"Yeah yeah, I won't spread it around." Kiba promised his friend.

Shikamaru and Chouji were already at the car when they arrived and when they were all settled in their seats and Kiba was pulling out of the parking lot Chouji asked them how the rest of their day had been.

"Yeah, how was your afternoon with Kakashi sensei?" Shikamaru added lazily.

"It was alright…" Naruto began.

"They made out in the supply closet!" Kiba blurted out loudly.

"KIBA!" Naruto snapped at his friend before he looked in the back of the car where he was met with two slightly startled faces.

"Well… that's good isn't it?" Chouji asked, surprising Naruto.

"Well… yeah." He said hesitantly.

"So what's the problem?" The chubby boy asked around a mouthful of chips.

"It's… well… Nothing. Just don't tell anyone about it please?" Naruto gave a small glare at Kiba. "I just don't want to get him in any trouble or anything you know… and I don't know where this is headed really so even though I know you have questions and are probably going to tease me mercilessly with this then I can't really tell you much about it."

"Are you happy?" Shikamaru's question caught him off guard.

He was even more surprised when he didn't even have to think about it before he answered. "Yes I am."

"Alright, good. If you're happy then we support you no matter what you do."

Naruto smiled. He really did have great friends and hopefully with things looking up in his life his nights would get better as well.


	13. Chapter 13

**Ok first of all I'm sorry for the horribly long wait for this chapter… I think 13 really is an unlucky number because it was just taking me **_**forever**_** to get this chapter done and I admit freely that I'm not too happy with it. There are not a lot of things happening in this chapter but it's important for later events… Hopefully you won't be too disappointed with it…**

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Naruto was experiencing something that had only happened to him on a handful of occasions before. He was in a state that could only be described as half asleep, half awake. The reason he recognized this and knew that he had experienced it before is because he was, for all intents and purposes, asleep and dreaming and yet he was conscious enough to _know_ that he was lying dreaming in his bed and not in fact standing where he appeared to be right at that moment.

Which, to his surprise, turned out to be an empty street.

The street was decent enough. It was lined with apartment blocks that, due to being well taken care of, looked more dignified than old and he could see a few nice looking stores on some of the ground floors. It wasn't exactly a rich neighborhood but it was definitely in one of the better parts of town. On a busy day when the sun was shining and people bustled about it would probably look much nicer but the sky was a strange shade of gray and there was not another person in sight. If Naruto would have to describe his surroundings he'd have to say that everything looked dead. Like something ominous had passed through here and sucked all the life out of the atmosphere.

He looked up at the bus stop sign at the edge of the sidewalk where he had materialized and got an odd sense of arriving home, like he'd just stepped off of the bus and knew he only had to walk a short distance before he arrived at his front door. And, just like that, he started walking down the street. He didn't really know where he was going but he could feel where he needed to be, like some unseen force was pulling him towards it.

On the way to his destination he experienced more unexpected sensations. He walked passed a small convenience store and got the faint tasted of sugar coated candies in his mouth, a boutique store for women made him feel restless and fidgety and a small hardware store reminded him of warm hands, a dark suit and the faint smell of cigars. He paused slightly when he spotted a tree between two buildings, a small scar on his back stung slightly and he rubbed at it absentmindedly before he looked up at the apartment building he'd just reached.

It was a tall elegant structure made of dark gray bricks but instead of a store on the ground floor, like many of the surrounding buildings had, this one had a solid oak door. Naruto glanced at the door buzzers momentarily before he tried the handle, it opened with a faint creak that sounded eerily familiar.

Naruto soon found himself standing in a small hall, he laughed softly when he walked passed an elevator with an "out of order" sign on his way to the stairs but couldn't figure out why he found it amusing. Not that it mattered; he got slightly claustrophobic in small spaces and therefore stayed clear of elevators whenever he could. With no specific floor in mind he started ascending the stairs, slowly walking with no thought at all apart from the need to go up and mindlessly putting one foot in front of the other.

On the sixth floor he stopped. He didn't know how he knew it, the hallway didn't look much different than the ones bellow, but somehow he knew that this one was the one he had been dreaming about all these nights recently. It wasn't because of fear or dread… or anything else for that matter. He didn't really feel anything clearly. If he really had to describe the feeling at all he would have to say that it was a sense of "Ah here we are." Like when he walks down the hallway at school and knows that he's at his locker without having to count five lockers from the left… or like the feeling you get when you arrive at your own front door. You don't have to think anything about it, you just know it's there.

But that was it now wasn't it… Naruto had just arrived home, a home he hadn't seen for little over ten years but a home none the less. Right there, down the hallway, his old front door, 608.

Eighth door from the end.

And just opposite it was his only safety. The door to his salvation. So close and still out of reach. Too close to his end and still not close enough.

An odd number… just like the occupant of the room.

Naruto walked up to the door. He didn't run. He didn't drag his feet. He just walked. Until he was standing in front of the door, looking up at the crooked nine that was missing one of its nails.

He tried the door handle but nothing happened. The door was locked. Funny, he thought, for some reason _he_ never kept it locked. Something about good people not needing to be locked out and locked doors not stopping bad people from getting in. The guy really was weird sometimes.

"You can't get in there yet."

Naruto whirled around to face whoever had spoken. He didn't see anyone but still asked. "How come?"

"Because," Said the little child he could just make out now, sitting in the shadow up against his old front door. "You have to go through hell before you can seek salvation." It said, pointing its little fingers at the door handle behind it.

The sentence sent chills down his spine.

Naruto looked between doors eight and nine. He didn't want to go in there but it was what he had come here to do. He needed to know. Needed to know the beginning in order to make it all end. This was what his mind was trying to show him night after night.

But he couldn't get in.

He put his hand on the handle and turned but nothing happened. The door didn't budge.

"That's ok. I can let you in." The child said as it stood up and stepped into the light. "I have the key."

Naruto stared at himself as he'd been 12 years ago. Blond hair, blue eyes, green goggles and orange jumpsuit. Only one difference that he had no memory of.

It was the gaping hole in his chest where his heart had been carved out. Little blood-soaked hands reached up and opened the door.

Naruto woke up screaming.

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When he finally managed to calm down Naruto spent what felt like hours listening for any signs of movement in the house. Terrified that he would hear the pounding footsteps of one of his dads running to his room to check on him. If he'd been thinking clearly he would have known that if anyone was in the house they would certainly have been in his room within a minute of his first scream. He also would have remembered that since Iruka could move around much better now he had started working again and was therefore with Genma at the youth center before the latter of the two would drive him to work. But his mind was a far cry from tranquility.

He slowly got out of bed, trembling from head to toe, and grabbed the first clothes he could find lying on the floor before making his way to the bathroom. Once there he locked the door and then looked around frantically for something he could use to barricade it, which he knew somewhere in the back of his mind was completely insane since he could hardly drag the toilet or bathtub up against the door. Not that it wasn't crazy to think he'd need to barricade a locked door, in a locked house in which he was the only occupant, to begin with.

He was completely losing his mind and when the feeling of someone watching him wouldn´t go away he dug through the drawer under the bathroom counter and took a couple of painkillers, hoping that they would help him calm down a bit before he went over to Kiba´s house.

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Kiba was out in the front yard with the little Chihuahua again when Naruto came around the corner from the back of the house. He bent down and picked up the small dog before he made his way over to the blond, all the while never taking his eyes off of his friend.

Naruto looked a bit tired and tense but he thought it was pretty understandable considering everything that was going on in his life right now.

It wasn´t such a long time since Naruto had joined the martial arts club, which could be really tiring on occasion, and he knew his friend normally didn´t sleep well. Plus he now had to spend his weekends training kids at the center because of Iruka´s broken leg and all the commotion that was happening around him because of Ino and Sakura must be getting to him.

Therefore Kiba didn´t think much about it and decided to not hassle Naruto with any petty concerns. He knew his friend hated that and if something was really bothering him Naruto would tell him soon enough, even though he threatened to tell Iruka when Naruto was being stubborn he usually told Kiba everything and if it was something really serious Kiba always managed to convince him to talk to one of his dads as well.

When Kiba got close enough Naruto noticed that the Chihuahua's head was covered in bandages.

"What happened to him?" He asked his friend.

Kiba raised the tiny black and brown dog a little higher while he checked that the bandages were still fine. "Well this little one here somehow managed to get outside and into the fence with the other dogs, thought it was a great idea to piss off a Rottweiler but thankfully _Cuddles_ is well trained. He picked him up by the head and handed him to my sister who happened to be outside at the time."

Kiba held the dog out to Naruto, who got the hint and took the dog from his friend's hands.

"He got a bit scratched up by it; we put the bandages on so the wounds wouldn't get infected and so he wouldn't be able to make them worse by scratching them with his paws." Kiba said as he walked to his front door, reached in and grabbed his school bag.

Naruto looked down at the little dog he was holding up against his chest.

"You really should learn to pick your battles." He told it sarcastically.

The pup only looked at him with curious eyes and then bumped his head under his chin and licked his cheek.

"You wanna keep him?" Kiba asked him all of a sudden. At Naruto's surprised look he went on. "He seems to like you, and believe me that's a privilege. We've been trying to find an owner for him but everyone who comes to look at him only gets growled at and although he doesn't do that to us you get the feeling that he barely tolerates me, my sister and mom.

Naruto looked down at the tiny dog, which was now busy cuddling up to his neck. He'd never really wanted a pet since he was younger, and when he had moved in with his dads later there had always been enough dogs in his backyard to satisfy that need. But this little creature seemed different somehow.

"Well I'll have to get permission from my dads first but sure, he seems alright."

He took one last look at the dog before Kiba took it from him and placed it in a little pen in the front yard. Although he still felt on edge the dog had managed to help ease some of the uneasiness Naruto had woken up with, hopefully the painkillers would help more once they kicked in.

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Nothing out of the ordinary happened until lunch that day. Naruto went to class with Shikamaru, painting taught by Aoba who, like so many other of their art teachers, was a bit weird. He wore sunglasses inside at all times and Naruto would have thought he was somehow related to Shino if it wasn't for the fact that unlike his straight forward and serious class mate Aoba seemed to be constantly distracted and usually blurted things out without thinking first.

Kakashi had been nowhere to be found when he walked into his class, which Naruto didn´t know if he should be glad or disappointed about and Sai had given him an awkward smile and a stiff wave as a greeting, but since Sai was always pretty weird and stiff with anything social that was rather normal.

Naruto could still feel the after affects of the accusations from Ino and Sakura. People stared at him as he walked down the hallways, more than usual that is, and although most of them seemed either indifferent or downright hostile there were some who smiled encouragingly at him, but those were few and far between. Thankfully his art classes were all around 4 hours or so each so he didn´t have to go anywhere during his breaks and just spent the time in the classroom hanging out with Shikamaru.

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Sasuke was pissed off. That was the only way you could describe the mood he had been in for the last two days. He was pissed off that Ino and Sakura had gone behind his back and done something so outrageous in his name, he was pissed off that some people at school actually believed the crap they had said and he was pissed off that Naruto now had to be escorted all over the place by either his friends or some weird ass substitute teacher. It didn´t help that the guy just kept on smiling like he didn´t have a care in the world. But most of all he was royally pissed off because he shouldn´t fucking _care_ about _any_ of that!

Uchihas just did not give a damn about anyone but themselves.

So why the hell did he care now. He'd been in the same class as the dobe since they were about 9 years old and he'd never given the slightest crap about what on earth kind of trouble the idiot got himself into.

He glared at the lunch lady as she personally handpicked the best food for him and gave him a bit extra of everything.

_Fucking ass kissers the whole lot of them,_ he thought.

He was sick and tired of people treating him like royalty just because of his family name. Fed up with people constantly fawning over him because they all expected such great things from him. All of them drooling over the Uchiha name and hoping they would get something in return.

_HA! Like he would ever give them anything, fucking idiots all of them._

No wonder his older brother had bailed as soon as he could. The Uchiha prodigy! The perfect son, with the perfect grades, the perfect manners and the perfect brains to take over the family company. Well since Sasuke, who had never been anything but second best and was still being compared to his "lost" brother, was being treated like he was he thought Itachi had probably made a very wise decision when he told their father to go to hell and moved out to do his own thing.

Not that Sasuke really cared. His plan, unlike his brothers, was to take over the company after his father stepped down and changing it into his own. He wasn´t stupid and as much as he hated the attention that came with his family name he knew it would get him what he wanted.

Sasuke took his tray and made his way to his usual table, where he sat down between Juugo and Suigetsu. He didn´t touch his food and instead glared at a table in the back corner, where a certain blonde dobe was now laughing with his friends while he ate his lunch out of a brown paper bag.

_A paper bag? Who on earth did that these days?_ Sasuke wondered.

"What are you thinking now?" Came the calm voice of Juugo from his right.

Sasuke smirked. It was a sure sign that he was pleased about something and the closest he would ever get to smiling. Which usually meant that you should say your prayers, kiss your loved ones goodbye, make sure your last will and testament were taken care of and that you didn´t have any unfinished business because someone was going to be in deep shit and it just might turn out to be you.

"Hn." Was all Sasuke said as the smirk reached his usually cold emotionless eyes.

"You know, I think I have to agree with you on that one." Juugo said as he looked over at Suigetsu.

The white haired boy grinned, showing his unusually sharp teeth. "Oh I´m in, wouldn't miss this for the world."

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Naruto was sitting between Kiba and Shikamaru at their usual lunch table. Chouji was sitting on the other side of the table facing Shikamaru and Shino was quietly reading a book at the end. Hinata had come down with the flu and was therefore absent from school that day.

So far his day had been pretty normal. The painkillers had managed to calm him down for a while but they had stopped working about an hour ago and he was now left with a slight headache. He was, however, still pretty calm… well as calm as he could be anyway.

Little did he know that that was all about to change in just a few minutes.

Chouji, being the only one on his side of the table and facing towards the room, was the first one to see them. They had all been busy listening to Kiba chattering on and on about yet another Anima show he had found online and hadn't been paying much attention to the people around them but something made Chouji look up from their table. Maybe he had been able to taste Armageddon coming.

"… And so the weapons, who are actually these kids who turn into weapons for the other guys to fight with, they eat the souls after they´ve killed the bad guys…"

"Uhm… guys." Chouji tried to interrupt but once Kiba got on a roll he could get kind of loud and over excited so the attempt went unnoticed.

"… and so you need to get 99 souls or whatever and then they turn into an even better weapon…"

"Guys!" Chouji stated a little bit louder this time.

"… And they go to this school you see and… What!" Kiba asked annoyed that Chouji had interrupted him in the middle of a story. They didn´t get a time to hear what he would have answered because almost right after Kiba had asked that pale hands reached in between Naruto and Shikamaru and deposited a lunch tray on the table.

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Sasuke stood up, picked up his tray and made his way over to his target without caring if the other boys followed or not. Juugo he knew he could always count on and although Suigetsu seemed to thrive on chaos he'd never failed him before so even if they'd probably think he had gone completely insane for what he was about to do he knew that they would either stand with him or keep out of his way. Juugo would follow because of friendship and loyalty, Suigetsu would follow because whatever ulterior motive he had seemed to always coincide with Sasuke's own. Although Sasuke would never mention this, and Suigetsu would never admit it, the white haired boys motives were probably not so unlike Juugo's.

When he reached his destination he put his food tray down next to the blond dobe and then turned and glared one of his deadliest glares at the ponytail haired boy sitting next to him. Thankfully the guy lived up to his reputation of being a genius and moved over one seat. Sasuke sat down in the now empty seat while Juugo and Suigetsu took seats on either side of the fat boy at the other side of the table.

For a few seconds you could have heard a pin drop in the cafeteria. Until a pretty loud voice broke the silence by bursting out.

"What the hell do you think you are doing Teme?!"

Sasuke looked up from his food tray, which he had just started on, and looked at the occupants of the table. Shikamaru looked thoughtful, Chouji had choked slightly on his food and was being helpfully patted on the back by Juugo, Shino… well Shino didn´t look different at all and Kiba was probably speechless for the first time in his life. Lastly he looked at the blond boy who he was now sitting besides. Sasuke turned slightly in his seat and looked at the boy. Naruto looked like he hadn´t slept properly for days, his eyes were glazed over and a little bloodshot but somehow Sasuke got the feeling that it wasn´t just because of sleep deprivation.

"Bastard! I said what the hell do you…" Naruto began again but was cut off by Sasuke's quiet but demanding voice.

"Shut up dobe." When Naruto looked like he was going to blow up at that point Sasuke continued. "I´m not here to cause any trouble. In fact I´m here to fucking help you! So just shut the fuck up, put on your fake little smile and pretend nothing out of the ordinary is happening. I´m sure even an idiot like you can handle that."

"What on earth…" Naruto began to holler again but stopped when he received one of the bastards trademark glares. "What on earth makes you think that I need your help?" Naruto continued in a much lower voice. Finally realizing that they were getting enough attention as it was without him broadcasting it all over the food court.

"Fine, don´t accept my help. Just wait until the next fucking idiot who thinks he´s doing me a favor comes along and either beats the living crap out of you or actually manages to frame you with something believable. Because believe me, although there aren't many people out there as stupid as those cockroaches, there are plenty of idiots out there who might get the same idea as them but actually manage to execute it."

"And we´re just supposed to believe you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart? Bullshit" Kiba growled from the other side of Naruto.

"First of all" Sasuke said, turning over to look at the dog boy. "Those idiots did what they did under my name! And _no-one_ uses the Uchiha name to get what they want and gets away with it unless they are a fucking Uchiha themselves. Especially not for idiotic stunts like this. But since they did I am going to make damn sure that people know that I had nothing to do with it and to make sure that the people involved get what they deserve. And although I couldn´t care less about what happens to this idiot over here" Sasuke said as he pointed his thumb at Naruto. "I'm not going to let it be because of me."

At this point Sasuke turned around and glared at the room in general, making the curious people on the neighboring tables quickly find something else to do besides trying to listen in on their conversation.

"But sure, I won´t lie to you." He said as he turned towards their table again. "I won´t walk away from this empty handed."

"What on earth could you possibly gain from sitting with us?" Naruto asked, but before the bastard could answer he was interrupted by another commotion.

"Sasuke-Kuuuun." Two voices called out at the same time before pink and yellow haired tornadoes came running up to their table.

"I believe you'll be an excellent pest repellant." Sasuke said tonelessly, if Naruto didn´t already know he didn't have even an iota of emotion he would have said that Sasuke cringed.

"Yes well I'm glad _I_ can help _you_ but.. Oofff." Naruto finished as the wind was knocked out of him when Sakura and Ino came crashing into the back of his chair, so Naruto got squished between it and the table.

"Sasuke-kuun, why are you sitting over here?" Sakura said with a pout. The unsaid words _with these losers_ clearly visible in her tone as she turned and sneered at the other occupants of the table.

"Yeah, why don't you come sit with us at our usual table?" Ino said.

"Hn." Was Sasuke's comment as he lazily looked up from his food, gave the girls a quick glance and then pointedly ignored them again. "I´m fine where I am."

The girls hesitated for a second before Sakura burst into action again. "Well if you really want to sit here that´s cool, we´ll just clean up the table a bit and sit with you." At this point Sakura leaned over Naruto and glared at him. "Get lost."

At this point Naruto had had quite enough. He didn´t know what Sasuke's plan was and how on earth he thought this would help him but he didn't want to have anything to do with it. The whole cafeteria was sneaking glances or outright staring at them again, which was doing nothing to help the feeling of paranoia Naruto had been fighting all day.

Therefore Naruto was gladly about to stand up when he was yanked back into his seat again. "Me and Naruto here are having a little talk so he's not going anywhere." Sasuke said calmly. "And I believe Ibiki-Sensei gave you clear instruction to stay away from Naruto unless you're in class."

"What… You're going to sit with these annoying…" Ino began but was cut off when Sasuke turned around quickly and glared at them.

"Let me make this perfectly clear." He said sternly. "Because obviously you need to have it spelled out for you before your idiotic little brains can understand it. _You_, Are, Annoying. I don´t like you, I never did like you and I never _will_ like you, either of you. And you flirty and clingy behavior isn´t appealing… it's pathetic."

Now it was Naruto's turn to cringe, this was not going to end well. For the second time in a few minutes the whole food court went absolutely silent. And then the silent was broken simultaneously by a few people.

"You.. you asshole!" Sakura shouted as she ran out of the room crying.

"This is all your fault!" Ino yelled at Naruto. "This isn't over." She growled at him before she strutted out of the room after Sakura.

"Well fuck." Kiba said with a bewildered look on his face.

"That's gonna be troublesome." Shikamaru said thoughtfully.

Sasuke looked over the table again. Juugo and Suigetsu looked quite normal, one of them grinning like a mental patient and the other one quite calm. Chouji had actually stopped eating at some point and was looking like he didn´t know what on earth was going on. Shino had stopped reading his book and now sat with his arms crossed over his chest but nothing could be seen from his face. Shikamaru looked like he was in deep thought and Kiba was about as out of sorts as Chouji.

Sasuke smirked; his plan was going along pretty well he thought.

That is, until Naruto put his hands on the table and slowly pushed himself out of his seat. "I don´t know what the hell you are playing at Teme." He said in an unusually calm voice. "But if you call that help you must be seriously fucked up in the head."

"What?" Sasuke began but was cut off when Naruto looked at him. The eyes that usually showed everything showed absolutely nothing. They looked dead.

"I´m glad we could help you get rid of your _pest_ problem but I would have thought that a genius such as yourself could have figured out that by doing that you've actually made my situation much worse." Naruto sighed as he turned and picked up his bag. "I don´t know if you actually were trying to help or if this is just your twisted idea of fun but…" Before Naruto walked away he turned his head back and said almost dejectedly. "Just do me a favor and _don´t_ do me any favors."

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Sasuke was walking out of one of the side entrances to the school when he was stopped by a calm voice. "You better know what you are doing." When he turned around he spotted Shikamaru sitting on the wide cement railing of the steps, leaning his back against the wall and staring up at the sky.

The stoic Uchiha had thought about following the blond boy out of the food court when he had made his exit but pride had kept him sitting in his seat. Uchihas did not go storming after people, it would imply that they actually cared… and as much as Sasuke's newly developed conscience was telling him that he'd screwed up and he had to go make sure the boy was alright his Uchiha upbringing was a much older and stronger force. It wouldn´t have been a good idea anyway since Naruto's friends had soon followed the boy out. All of them giving him dark looks… except Shikamaru, who had only looked at him with that customary thoughtful look on his face… Well and Shino, you couldn't exactly see if he was giving him a dark look or not but there was a definite feeling of _something_ dark coming from the boy.

Well they might not have realized it but just by sitting with them Sasuke had actually managed to smooth things over for Naruto a little and probably prevent any more idiots from doing something stupid.

Sasuke studied the boy who was lazily reclining against the wall. This boy who was supposed to be a true genius, much smarter than Sasuke would ever be… probably smarter than his prodigy of an older brother even. Out of all of Naruto's friends this one should have been the one to notice anything off about him and yet the boy had done nothing that Sasuke could see to help him. How many danger signs did the boy have to send out before this supposed smart ass finally got a clue and realized that something was wrong?

"Is that a threat?" He finally asked after he finished scrutinizing the boy. He could have chosen to ignore him and continued walking to his car but miracles seemed to be happening all around Sasuke these days… seriously, he should have been proclaimed as a saint by now… and he actually stopped and decided to hear him out.

Shikamaru lazily glanced at Sasuke before he slowly looked up at the sky again. Their next class after lunch had been philosophy, a class neither Sasuke nor the girls were in, and since Kakashi hadn't showed up all day and they had a free period before their clubs started they had decided to go and hang out at the library once the class had finished. Shikamaru had told his friends he needed to take care of something and said that he'd catch up with them later before he'd made his way over to this entrance and waited. The Raven haired boy usually parked his car at this parking lot and Shikamaru thought it was high time to find out just what the normally closed off and private Uchiha was planning.

"Che… I've got no intention to tell you what you can or cannot do, threateningly or otherwise." He said in a bored tone. "Although I do warn you that if you ever _did_ do anything to hurt Naruto you'd have to answer to Kiba… and believe me his bite is far worse than his bark and we both know just how loudly and how much he can bark." **(1)**

"Hn." Sasuke said and crossed his arms over his chest.

Shikamaru eyed him again. "I've seen the way you've been watching him lately. And sure I could sit around all day and come up with hundreds of theories as to why you are so interested in him all of a sudden but that would take time and most of them would be wrong. I could also warn you off, threaten you and try to make you mind your own business but that's going to be about as effective as trying to hammer a nail in with your own head, bloody stupid and probably painful with absolutely no results."

This time Shikamaru locked eyes with the raven haired boy. "So I´ll just tell you again, you better know what you are doing. And judging from your attempt earlier I'd say you don't have much of a clue."

Sasuke barely managed not to grind his teeth; he wouldn't give the guy the satisfaction of seeing how much his blond friend was affecting him. Too bad Sasuke didn't realize he'd been clenching his fists for a while now.

"Oh and I suppose you know everything don't you!" He said quietly. Uchihas did not raise their voices to be heard, they didn't have to. Their quiet, hard voices did a whole lot more damage than any yelling could ever do. "Have you _looked_ at your friend lately? If you're observant enough to notice that I've been looking at him I find it extremely hard to believe you haven't noticed how your own friend looks like he's _this_ close to snapping and doing something crazy." Sasuke glared at the boy as he lifted his right hand and indicated just how far away from the edge Naruto was with the space between his thumb and index finger.

"And you have the audacity to tell me that _I_ don't have a clue, at least I'm trying to do something to help him."

Shikamaru sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose "_That's_ the reason you don't have a clue." He said. "You _don't_ try or offer to help Naruto; you have to wait for him to come to you."

Sasuke snorted "What the hell kind of logic is that, the guy is a walking cry for help."

"I don't expect you to understand this." Shikamaru said. "Naruto's always been a complicated guy and the situation now is one I haven't seen for years. Yes, I have seen the danger signs lately, but there is something about Naruto that you have to understand. After his parents died and before he was adopted Naruto was sent between foster homes regularly and the few foster families who took him in got rid of him almost right away. His last name was enough for people to treat him like he had the plague. Thankfully Naruto finally got a family who supports him but even after all these years his name is still enough of a reason for people to treat him like shit."

After a slight pause he continued.

"You don´t offer Naruto help. You wait for him to ask for it, no matter how bad the situation is. He learned the hard way not to trust anyone but himself and after years of neglect, abuse and betrayal any offer no matter how good or bad will be met with either distrust or scrutiny. The more you ask him if something is wrong the more he tries to convince you that nothing is, which only serves to lengthen the time it actually takes for him to finally admit that he's not alright."

"So you're just going to wait until he finally cracks and asks for help?" Sasuke asked perplexed. "What if he never does?"

"Oh he will… in his own time." Shikamaru said as he swung his legs off the cement rail. "One of the reasons Naruto doesn't ask people he knows he can trust for help is because he doesn't want to worry or disappoint them. But that's exactly the same reason why, sooner or later, he will come to them for help… because he knows that if he doesn't he'll worry or disappoint them even more."

"So you're telling me to back off?"

Shikamaru gave Sasuke an annoyed look. "Che… I've already told you. I've got no intention to tell you what you can or cannot do and you probably wouldn't listen to me even if I tried. All I'm doing is giving you a little more information to work with so your next attempt won't backfire in your face."

"But whatever you do, try not to get Kiba involved too much. He tends to get over protective and I'm not sure that's exactly what Naruto needs at the moment." Shikamaru said as he jumped off the wall and made his way back to the school door. Sasuke's quiet words stopped him.

"You're wrong you know." Shikamaru turned and looked at the emotionless boy who was standing stoically looking over the parking lot, facing away from him. "I know all about how it feels to be treated differently because of your last name, how you never know who to trust because everyone's got an ulterior motive… What it feels like to be constantly told that you're not good enough and that you will never amount to anything just to have them turn around and tell you the exact opposite."

Sasuke tilted his head up and to the side so he was looking at Shikamaru over his shoulder. "My name might open up a lot of doors for me, but it also closes others."

As Sasuke made his way down the steps and towards his car Shikamaru could swear he heard him mumble. "Some doors you really want to open… others are better left closed…"

Shikamaru chuckled slightly and shook his head. Despite looking and acting like complete opposites they really weren't all that different, Sasuke and Naruto. "Troublesome." He mumbled and then made his way inside again.

According to his calculations the only thing they could do now was to just let nature take its course and see what happened… the only problem was that it would either blow over quietly or blow up in their faces spectacularly.

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**Ok this is the best place to stop for now… I know not much happened in the chapter but I promise that the next chapters will have more action… There is definitely more Kakashi coming and the smut is on its way! This chapter was just important to show a bit of what Naruto's friends are thinking… Because personally I thought Shikamaru was just way too smart to not notice something was going on with Naruto. **

**Anyways… hope it wasn't too much of a letdown… I can just imagine you were all excited to read a new chapter and then you get a long chapter with practically nothing in it… -sweatdrops-**

**(1**) Yes I do know I switched it around, that was done intentionally to show that Kiba isn't just all talk and no action… he's in the martial arts club and knows how to do more than just talk someone to death.

**(2)** If you haven't read the note about Sasuke on my profile I suggest you do. All I'll say here is that no, he does not have a crush on Naruto and there will be no love triangle in this story.

**(3) **I know the half asleep – half awake thing at the beginning of the chapter sounds weird but believe me it can happen. I'm a very light sleeper and have many other sleeping problems and sometimes I can be dreaming about something but still be aware enough to know that I am in fact sleeping and what I am doing isn't real. It's kind of like that split second you get when the alarm starts blasting and you think "did that black cat just meow Mozart in ringtones" before you snap out of the dream and realize it's your alarm, but this state just goes on a lot longer.


	14. Need your help

Hey guys... sorry but this isn't the next chapter. You see, I´m having a slight problem with the story...

Now usually authors that ask their readers for help annoy me to no end (guess I shouldn't have thought so bad about them in the past) because I think authors should be able to write their own damn stories without asking for opinions or ideas every other chapter... and now I´m ranting...

Anyway the thing is that I've hit a fork in the road…

1. I can end the story in the next few chapters, which was my original idea for this story, and it would be a good story on the whole with just a few things left unfinished in my opinion. The plot I have to make the story longer would then probably be used for a sequel.

2. I can continue the story passed the "ending" point I had originally planned and by doing so I can finish a few things that would otherwise have been left off and give some characters a bigger role. But in doing so I would be putting in a rather big twist on the story.

So my question is: Should I end this story in a relatively normal way by revealing Naruto's deep dark secret or should I go passed that and take you all on a merry go ride in a totally new direction?

Please answer by taking the poll I have posted on my profile… or if you think that's too much of a hassle you can also just review with your opinion… even if that opinion is for me to get on with the bloody story already ^_^

**Slight update..** Thanks to Mad Mardigan for bringing this to my attention. The plot twist I am talking about has nothing to do with the pairings. **there will be no sasunaru in this story at all!** nor any other Xnaru except Kakashi. When I said a few characters would have a bigger role I did not mean it in that way, just that a few of the extra characters would have a bigger role in the story and a few people who have been mentioned offhandedly (like workers at a certain tattoo parlor) would get more screen time.

I don't want to give away anything about the current or new plot so all I'll say is that the new plot has to do with things that are related to Naruto's past.


	15. Chapter 14

**Because there was so little of Kakashi in the last chapter this one is going to be written mostly from his point of view… Also I just really had nothing planned for Naruto in this chapter except some little things.**

**Now you will learn a little bit more about the mysterious sex god! …. And yes the smut is coming… you impatient perverts. ^_^ hehe.**

**I have decided to go with option 2, even though option 1 was more popular in the poll. The reason for this is that after I thought about it there was pretty much no way to "wrap up the story" without cutting off half finished mini plot lines (for example I've got **_**very**_** little planned with Sasuke until after the main story line that's ongoing now has finished and leaving it at that would just not make sense to me… Why bring him up at all if I wasn't going to go anywhere with it?) And most importantly it would mean I would have to rush Kakashi and Naruto's relationship if I did and I really didn´t want to do that.**

**Also a lot of my ideas for the new plot/sequel are so closely connected or interwoven into the story that there really isn't a way for me to end this one and begin a new one. **

**P.s. Já Salvor-chan ég tala íslensku :) **

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Kakashi walked into his bathroom, sighing tiredly as he pulled the headphones out of his ears and put his IPod down on the bathroom counter. He stripped out of his clothes slowly, stepped into the shower and started the water running. Putting both hands against the wall he leaned forward, bending his head so the water hit the back of his tense neck and shoulders before it ran down his lean muscular body. He'd just gotten back from his morning run with his dogs, no small feat considering he had 4 of them, 8 if you counted the other 4 he had trained and worked with on the force, and even though they were very well trained things were always bound to get out of hand with a number that big.

But no matter how much of a hassle it could be, taking his dogs out running in the morning always managed to calm him down and get him focused for the day ahead. Kakashi's troubled youth and then years on the force had pretty much made sure that he needed, and got, very little sleep.

Once he felt his muscles ease up he went about his usual routine, washing his hair and then shaving in the shower. He ran his fingers over the scars on his left cheek while he carefully shaved over and around them.

Ever since the time Kakashi started wearing his mask he barely looked at himself in the mirror anymore. In fact, there were no mirrors in his apartment at all. His face, along with his scars, only reminded him of memories he wanted to forget. All except one... Naruto.

The only thing from his past that he was marginally proud of… And the one thing he had managed to screw up beyond repair. Now it looked like history was about to repeat itself. Again Kakashi's mind went over the same old thoughts that had been plaguing it ever since he first noticed his new interest in the boy. He shouldn't be attracted to the boy, never should have acted on the attraction and he really should have backed off a long time ago. Either that or he should have come clean right from the beginning. But he hadn't done any of those things and it was too late now. He was in too deep and there was no denying his feelings for the boy no matter how wrong he felt they were, or more precisely, how wrong he _should_ feel they were.

Even just thinking of the boy now was getting him half hard. He thought about turning the water temperature to cold but gave in to temptation instead, he'd had his share of cold showers now and although they took care of the problem they didn't get rid of the itch. He needed the release if only just once. Maybe that way he would be able to go one day without practically molesting the boy in the nearest closet.

Keeping one hand propped up against the wall he lowered the other one and wrapped it around his now fully hard member, pumping it leisurely. Long firm strokes up and down with a bit of a twist when he reached the head of his weeping erection. Remembering the feel of the blond angel in his arms, pressed up against the supply closet's door, shivering with need and desire that were all directed at him. The taste of his lips, his skin. The sweet sounds he made when Kakashi found a sensitive spot. The smell of his hair. The way his hands stroked tentatively over his body, the feel of his lean stomach against his crotch and the boy's hard member against his thigh. All of those enough to send him over the edge harder and sooner than usual.

Something that felt so right just couldn't be wrong, could it?

After cleaning himself off Kakashi got out of the shower and dressed for the day, black faded jeans and a thin form fitting navy blue hoodie, along with his usual black mask and bandanna. After leaving enough food out for his dogs to feed a whole army he grabbed his backpack and keys and headed out his door. Ignoring the rusty cage like service elevator, which would take him straight down to the first floor, he headed down the hallway to another less noticeable exit. Once outside Kakashi treaded carefully down the old wooden steps and into the alley bellow.

Before walking to his bike, which was usually parked in the alley, he made a small detour to a door that was almost hidden by the steps up to the apartment area of the 3 story house. The door lead to a small break room for the tattoo parlor, named Akatsuki after the crew who ran it, on the ground floor and Kakashi usually stopped by there in the morning to grab some coffee.

Ignoring the death glare he got from Itachi he proceeded to pour himself a cup. It was no wonder Sasuke's glares and attitude didn't work on him at all at school since he'd already gotten immune to his brother. Like in so many other things this was something Itachi was infinitely better at, the red contact lenses and the whole Goth like look was a definite bonus. Whereas Sasuke's glare only managed to say _Go away or I´ll make your life miserable_ Itachi's glare managed to portray, among other things, the message _If you so much as take one wrong breath in front of me I will rip out your lungs and shove them so far up your ass that you'll be able to taste them AIGAIN_.

Kakashi didn´t think much about the fact that the quiet Uchiha actually owned the place, owned the whole building in fact, and that he was consequently drinking his coffee every morning. The guy always glared at everyone and he figured that if he really had a problem with it Itachi was smart enough to just lock the back door, which surprisingly stayed unlocked from around 6 am, when Itachi got up to open the shop and go over the books, to around 9 am, which was the latest time Kakashi went to work during the week.

If asked straight out neither one of them would call the other a friend but they had a mutual understanding that seemed to go beyond that at some levels. Itachi and his crew had often helped Kakashi and his team on the force out with some cases in the past, mainly when something that needed to be done was considered too shady. They didn´t really deal in anything illegal but they had connections that the force didn´t, probably because all the members of the group were ex-criminals or gang members apart from the elder Uchiha son.

Kakashi had also helped Itachi considerably when the former Uchiha heir had broken free from his family and later Itachi and his gang had helped Kakashi out when the Special Forces organization he was working for broke apart and eventually, after a brutal battle of legal cases and accusations, formed two new organizations. As a result Kakashi trusted them enough to take his mask down and drink coffee in front of them and Itachi trusted him enough to mind his own fucking business and not go telling anyone what went on in the building. So, in a way, they were best friends for life… just without the whole friendship factor.

On his way back out again he bumped into two of the seven Pein brothers **(1)**. Kakashi supposed they must all have first names but no one in the Akatsuki crew seemed to have bothered to learn them and all seven of them were just referred to as Pein, it didn´t bother Kakashi one bit since they all pretty much looked the same to him with their red hair and facial piercings.

After giving them a half assed salute he walked over to his bike, secured his backpack, straddled the bike while he put his helmet on and then kicked off, reeling into traffic and heading for work.

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Once he got there Kakashi went into the teachers' lounge. Passing the time until his first class reading a well worn orange paperback and easily ignoring whatever it was that Gai was loudly telling him from the next seat. Unlike the martial arts club Kakashi was never an hour late for his literature classes… he always showed up precisely 19 minutes late which usually managed to annoy the hell out of his class, because if the teacher was 20 minutes late the class was automatically dismissed and they'd get a free period.

Kakashi snapped out of his book when he noticed that the steady hum of Gai's voice had stopped. He looked up from his paperback and over at said man who was obviously, and very eagerly, waiting for something.

Knowing that it always managed to annoy the man, and because simply asking him to repeat that meant he'd probably repeat _everything_ he'd said up until that point with the _exact_ same exclamations of something like power and youth, he cocked his head and asked in a bored tone.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Gahh!" Gai huffed loudly, throwing his hands in the air. "I should have known, you never hear a word I say when you are reading those youthful books of yours!"

Kakashi refrained from pointing out that his books weren't exactly youthful and should definitely not be read by youths at all. Instead he just maintained his bored look while he stared unblinkingly at the man with his sole visible eye. Another thing that managed to throw the other man off because he always started blinking more when Kakashi did it, like he was trying to make up for the fact that Kakashi wasn't doing it himself.

"I asked how it was going with your wonderful and lovely Naruto!"

Kakashi stared at his loudmouthed _friend_ for a few more seconds before he lazily, but quickly, scanned the teachers' lounge. Yep, still pretty full before the first class of the day started… Damn, he thought. Before Gai could say anything more Kakashi quickly gave a vague answer of.

"Oh you know, it´s going quite like I expected it would."

"Ah! So you have managed to seduc…"

"Yes!" Kakashi quickly cut in. "I´m helping him sort it all out, terrible thing to lie about don´t you think?"

Did the man just not know when to shut up! He'd known him for years and Gai had always had a pretty loud mouth that sprouted stupid things at the worst possible moments but this was a bit ridiculous. Was the man honestly going to sit in the teachers' lounge and loudly ask him if he had managed to seduce his student? A student that by the way didn´t turn 18 until the next day and was therefore, _technically_, off limits… especially to a teacher. It wasn't really banned provided that the student was over 18 and, of course, that the relationship was consensual. But it was definitely not a topic you discussed loudly in front of all your colleagues.

Using Gai's momentary confusion he quickly added. "Now I really must be getting to class, I´ll see you later." Before he walked lazily out of the room, because going with the urge to run like hell would have just looked way to suspicious.

Needless to say Kakashi found himself sitting in his classroom way before his students arrived, but it was all good because it actually managed to give them all a terrible shock... and annoy them since the class now started 19 minutes sooner than usual. Maybe he should do it more often, he thought.

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Naruto was not having a very good day. He supposed that he should be used to that by now but it still managed to frustrate him. He´d had the same dream as the night before; the only difference was that this time he had managed to open the door before he´d woken up in another panic attack. His only consolation was that Genma had borrowed the mini-van that the youth center owned and was now taking Iruka with him when he left in the morning so he could then drive Iruka to work later on. This meant that neither of his dads were home when he woke up and therefore wouldn't be able to hear him scream or see him dart into the bathroom like some unseen demon was clawing at his heels.

He had taken some painkillers again today to calm down and on second thought he'd taken the rest of the package with him to school to have when the first dose stopped working. They didn't help that much but at this point Naruto was willing to take all the help he could get. He refused to let his mind wander to the box he had hidden in the darkest corner of his bedroom closet. He'd never need those again… He'd never go back to being that crazy.

Thankfully Naruto hadn't had to use any more painkillers to calm himself down after he arrived at school, although he was contemplating downing the whole pack if it would get rid of the major headache he now had to deal with. The cause for said headache was at the moment sitting next to him glaring at everything that moved within a 12 foot radius of their lunch table… or anyone misfortunate enough to glance in their general direction.

This had been going on ever since Naruto had arrived at school with his friends to find that the ever stoic Sasuke _Bastard_ Uchiha was waiting for him at the door with his 2 body guards. After the customary Dobe/Bastard greeting the boy had then proceeded to silently _stalk_ him in every break or class that they had in common no matter how many times Naruto had loudly, rudely and, as a last resort, nicely asked him what the hell he thought he was doing. Half way Naruto had just given up though. Sasuke seemed to have gotten it into his strange duck butt styled head that he was actually helping him in some way by doing this and even though Naruto got glared at a whole lot less he wasn't sure it was better than the situation he was dealing with now.

Instead of a few mean stares and people ignoring him Naruto now had to deal with a growling Kiba, who was convinced Sasuke had some dark ulterior motive for hanging around them, and a ruthless cold hearted Uchiha who, despite saying he was doing this to help, seemed to be doing anything but that. Naruto of course wasn't an expert but he was pretty sure that slow torture had not suddenly morphed into something helpful.

Naruto was currently sitting between the two boys. Shikamaru, Chouji and Juugo were on the opposite side of the table and Suigetsu was at the end near Sasuke, Hinata had taken one look at them and promptly decided to sit somewhere else (not that Naruto could blame her, she'd probably faint from fright if she'd had to sit with them) and Shino had gone with her. Of course this had only managed to annoy Kiba even more and the tension surrounding Naruto had gone up a few degrees. If Naruto had actually remembered to grab his lunch off the kitchen table that morning he was sure that the atmosphere would be giving him indigestion.

But since Naruto didn´t have…

Oh no, this was not happening. He did _not_ need _this_ on top of everything else today. Naruto certainly would have banged his head against the table repeatedly if a tray full of food had not suddenly materialized before him on it. The arm that was holding it, casually touching his shoulder, and the presence so close behind him could only belong to one person. And as much as one part of his mind and his whole body seemed to want to lean into said person there was another part of his mind that was begging someone to just please kill him now because his day couldn't possibly get any worse.

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At lunch Kakashi decided to check up on Naruto and see how he was doing. He made his way down the hallways easily dodging the students loitering in it. Kakashi was always a sight to see when he walked around the school. He was taller than most and with his eccentric look he probably would have come across as your average nutty professor if it wasn´t for the way that he moved. Even with his head completely absorbed in a book he glided down the hallway, sidestepping here and there and stopping or speeding up in order to avoid bumping into other people. And although Kakashi was the kind of person you certainly should notice in a crowd he somehow still managed to blend right in.

As he rounded the last corner Kakashi slowed down to almost a complete stop. There by the cafeteria door stood Sakura and Ino with pretty identical looks on their faces that could only be described as murderous. Instantly falling into habit Kakashi slowly walked up to them, not even his feet making a sound as they tread on the floor. He was rewarded for his troubles when he quietly brushed passed them into the cafeteria. Right before he walked in and into their line of view he heard Ino whisper to Sakura.

"We´ll get him back for this somehow! Making a fool of us is one thing but dragging Sasuke into this is quite another."

'_Sasuke'_ Kakashi thought _'Wonder what he's got to do with Naruto'_

He didn´t have to wait long to find out though since the first thing he saw when he glanced in Naruto's direction was said Uchiha heir sitting right next to him at the lunch table. '_Now this is interesting'_. Noticing that the blond boy didn't have any lunch again he made a quick detour before he snuck over there to see what was going on.

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Naruto finally looked up and was met by the upside down face of his… whatever the hell he should call Kakashi anyway. Teacher was accurate but they went way beyond any regular student teacher relationship, tormentor could be pretty accurate as well if it wasn't for the fact that he actually enjoyed some of the torment, friend was a bit of an understatement and boyfriend was going too far.

And now Naruto was getting an even bigger headache by thinking about all that and staring cross-eyed at that sole visible eye that was smiling down at him… And that was a whole new thing to give him headaches about because eyes weren't supposed to be able to actually _smile_.

Having had enough of people hovering over him for the past few days, when all he wanted to do was find a hole to crawl into and hide in, Naruto breathed out in frustration. "What are _you_ doing here?"

Kakashi looked down on the boy and studied his worn out face for a moment while he relished the body contact they were making. It probably wouldn't take the boy long to realize that by tilting his head back like that he was actually now resting it against his stomach and leaning in to his embrace. The boy's body heat sending pleasant tingles over Kakashi's body, and by the dazed look on the boy's face he could see that he wasn't the only one feeling it.

Not wanting to draw any more attention to them than he already was he broke the moment the best way he knew how. By pushing the kid's buttons.

"Maah… I just missed you so much that I couldn't possibly wait for you to come to my club later on _gaki_." **(2)**

Naruto's cross-eyed stare turned into a glare. "Don't call me gaki you pervert." He bit out.

"Alright alright, Fishcake." Kakashi sighed as he patted Naruto's shoulder before he glanced at the other occupants of the table. After a brief observation he turned to the boy who was more likely to be bothering him at the moment. Sasuke gave him a deadly glare that was promptly ignored as he ushered him out of the seat which in return caused a domino effect as Sasuke moved one seat over, making Suigetsu move over which in return made all 3 boys at the opposite side scooch over as well.

All of this managed to go completely over Naruto's head. "Don't call me Fish…" He'd started to say when something in his mind stirred. The image of strong hands wrapping around him after a nightmare and a warm voice calling him Fishcake hazily played itself out, but as suddenly as the image had popped into his head it was gone again and Naruto was left with a thoughtful look on his face and a feeling that he was missing something important.

Kakashi was more observant though and silently chastised himself for his slip up. The old nickname had rolled off his tongue without a thought and by the look on the boy's face it had obviously struck a chord.

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After lunch Naruto and Kakashi were again sitting in the man's office working on individual projects. Kakashi was grading papers, as was his custom in the break he got between teaching and coaching, and since Kakashi hadn't had any work he could dump on Naruto that day the boy was sitting quietly at the other side of his desk working on some sketches.

After watching the boy squirm and steal glances at him for little over a half an hour Kakashi finally gave up on waiting for the boy to open his mouth and say what was obviously on his mind and decided to give him a little push.

"You know you can go to the bathroom without asking me for permission." He said suddenly. Probably not as effective as asking the boy straight out what was on his mind but this way was always much more enjoyable.

"Huh?" was Naruto's only response as he snapped his head up from his latest design.

"The bathroom… I'm assuming you know what to do in there…" Kakashi drawled.

"I know!..." Naruto began irritably but then composed himself and said calmly. "I don't have to go to the bathroom."

"You're twitching in your seat."

"It's just… I…" The boy brushed a shaky hand through his hair and tried again. "Can I ask you something?"

By the look of his face and the way he carried himself Kakashi could see that this topic was obviously something that the boy thought to be serious. Something that made him nervous. Kakashi couldn't help feeling a little apprehensive himself, his slip up earlier that day still firmly lodged at the front of his mind.

Lunch had been an event to remember. The tension had increased tenfold when Kakashi had sat down. Each individual or group sizing each other up and wondering what their motives where. Sasuke and his cronies had looked at Kakashi with reserved wariness as they tried to figure out the teacher's agenda. Kiba, knowing some of it, had kept focusing on Sasuke but Kakashi could feel him glancing in his direction once in a while, probably wondering what his intentions with his friends were. Shikamaru had been pretty unreadable and thoughtful like usual and Chouji had just continued eating albeit a little slower than usual as he tried to sooth some of the tension like the goodhearted boy was prone to do when ever his friends clashed to badly.

Yet during all of this Kakashi could still see that whatever his comment had stirred up in the blonde was still troubling him.

Kakashi showed no sign of his feelings though as he calmly leaned back in his chair to put the boy at ease before he told him to go on.

"I want to know… what… I mean… Why…" _Great_, Naruto thought as he blushed and buried his face in his hand. _If there really was anything between us before this he's probably changed his mind about it now with this immature behavior_.

"Just ask what you want to know." Kakashi voice said soothingly from the other side of the desk. "I won't judge you for it."

Naruto took a deep breath and looked up before he used his momentary courage to blurt out. "What are we?"

Kakashi was taken aback by the question. With his mind still lingering on the past he couldn't discern if the boy was talking about them now or if he had started to remember something. Once again the silver haired man's conscience told him to spill all but his selfish side, the one who didn't want to lose what they were gaining now, told him to keep going with his bluff.

Thankfully after he'd started the boy seemed to have gotten over his nervousness on the subject and continued.

"I mean, what do you want from me? Are we friends? Dating? What?" Naruto went on, looking at the man and trying to see anything passed that mask of his. "I just… I need to know ok. I can't think straight with you playing with my mind like this and if this is all just a big joke or a game to you then I seriously don't need that right now… Or ever for that matter." He added quietly as an afterthought.

And he was right. Naruto had enough on his mind as it was with his nightmares and the whole Sasuke situation, not to mention his studies, helping his father because of his broken leg and the added worry that he was completely losing his mind if he was having strange vision or images popping into his head just because of one word someone said.

Naruto braced himself and looked at the man, waiting anxiously for an answer.

Kakashi stared stoically back. He calmly screwed the cap back on to the fountain pen he used to grade papers with before putting it off to the side and then reaching over to take one of the boy's hands that was sitting on top of his desk.

When he had the boy's undivided attention he looked him square in the eye and said very seriously and without any of his normal carelessness. "Naruto. I am not, and never have been, playing with you." He sighed almost inaudibly before he continued. "I don't know where this is going and I can't promise you anything. I won't push you but if this is something you want then I certainly won't stand in your way or let you down if I can help it." After a short pause Kakashi almost whispered. "You can.. trust me on this. I will never intentionally hurt you."

Naruto stared back at the man before he blinked a few times and then remembered how to breath. Unaware that he was now clutching the man's hand he breathed out shakily. "Al… alright then." And after taking a few steadying breaths he stammered. "I… I do… want this."

"I'm not asking for eternity or happily ever after or anything" he blurted out quickly. "I just… needed to know, you know?"

Kakashi chuckled and stood up, making his way around his desk without letting go of the boy's hand. He knelt in front of him, their hands now resting on the boy's knee. "I know." He said seriously.

They staid like that for what felt like minutes before Kakashi glanced up at the clock ticking away on his wall and slowly got up.

"It's time for you to go to the club." He said as he pulled Naruto out of the chair. He gave the boy a small cloth covered kiss before turning him around and pushing him gently towards the door. "Go on, or Gai will likely make you do extra training for showing up late. We'll talk about this more tomorrow when you come over after classes."

Naruto paused at the door at that comment. "Yeah… tomorrow." He said with a faraway look on his face. "I'll… see you then."

As he walked down the hall he knew he should have told the guy he wouldn't be there until the inevitable training camp later that day, but doing so would have required explanations. Explanations he wasn't ready to give at the moment.

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After making sure the boy was gone and out of hearing range Kakashi plunked down on the chair he had just vacated. He knew it had been coming and he'd known he wouldn't have any answers when it did. As he buried his face in his hands and sighed deeply he could only hope that when the truth finally did come out that the boy would remember his vague hints and know that he really hadn't started all this as some sick joke.

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**Oh my god I finally managed to get this out of my head and onto paper XD I knew having to do homework would kick me in to gear... I seem to write most when I'm avoiding doing homework ;)**

**(1)** I looked into this and according to Wikipedia his name can be either written as Pain or Pein. I´m more used to seeing his name written as Pein and so that is the version you will see in my story.

**(2)**Gaki - Informal term meaning "brat"

**Fishcake** is just a play of Naruto's name because Naruto is the name of, well, fishcakes… it's those little white flakes with the pink swirls you see in the ramen bowls in the anime


	16. Chapter 15

**Hey hey, this chapter was becoming wayyyy longer than usual, as much as I had nothing planned for last chapter I had TONS planned for this one. So this one will be split in two, the rest is not finished but it's all planned out so you shouldn't have to wait _too _long for it to pop up.**

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_It was there. Right in front of him. _

_Everything. _

_His past. His future. And now, his present._

_It consumed him. Haunted his days. Tormented his nights. Always there at the front of his mind and yet… he couldn't remember it. Like some damn soda pop tune you can't remember the lyrics to but can't get out of your head all the same and it drives you crazy because you just can't figure it out. _

_He saw it in his dreams, when he was awake. Every god damn second he closed his eyes. It terrified him._

_And yet, it was only a door._

_Standing there. Unmoving. Ever the same. Faded green paint that was flaking off in places. The dirty golden 608 hanging over it. _

_Innocent on the outside but complete hell on the inside. _

_Slowly he opened the door… and stared straight into the face of the nine tailed fox. Before the blood drowned him a second time. _

Naruto burst awake, clawing at his throat as he tried to gulp in air as wave after wave of panic descended upon him. It wasn't until he felt the pain of a rather nasty scratch that he realized that he could breath just fine, was breathing too much and too fast in fact. When he finally managed to calm down some minutes later he wondered briefly if this was such a good idea after all. Trying to remember something that his mind obviously thought was horrible enough to want to block it out. But he had to know, _needed_ it just like the air he was still sucking in like each breath would be his last.

He got slowly out of bed and made his way shakily to the bathroom. He was in no hurry today; he never went to school on his birthday. He had something else to do today, something that was almost like a ritual to him, and it definitely wasn't celebrating the day his parents had welcomed him into the world. Although he could, technically, celebrate the fact that this was the day that he had been brought into this world twice now. Once by his mother… and once by the doctors who saved his life.

Today was the day he took off, out of whatever schedule he had, to pay his respects to his parents. The last day he had ever seen them alive.

As he came to a stop in front of the mirror he stared at the crooked X on his chest. He wouldn't think about him, never him. Not the monster who had given him his new life… the same day he'd taken his old one away.

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After his shower Naruto made his way down the stairs and into the kitchen where he found a note from his dads on the table. Despite his anxious mood it made him smile, it was so typical of his dads.

_Naruto_. (The letter began in Genma's messy scrawl)

_Happy birthday sunshine! We left you a little money on the counter; don't spend it all on booze and dicks_…

The money is for your train ride and lunch. Take your cell phone with you and don't hesitate to call if you need us…

_But of course, since you are a big boy now, you won't need to._ (Here there was a line that looked like someone had tried to pull the paper away but Genma's handwriting continued) _But of course, take it with you so your father will feel better_….

Make sure it's charged full so it won't run out during the weekend…

_And come by the youth center before you leave for your sleepover._

We love you and are sorry we can't be there with you like we used to.

Kisses,

Iruka and Genma.

Naruto laughed when he came to the end of the letter. In his father's neat handwriting was a post script and under that one, probably written when his father had left the room was another one hastily scrawled down by Genma.

P.s. The little mutt is in the laundry room. How on earth you and Genma managed to convince me to take it in is beyond me but he's your responsibility and I want him well behaved! If I trip over that thing on the stairs and break my other leg all 3 of you will be sleeping outside.

_P.p.s. Be sure to call Iruka during his lunch break, you know how much he likes to worry about you and he'll be completely impossible when he comes home from work if you don't and I'd rather spend the rare weekend we get you out of the house doing something a little more exciting than going through your baby pictures. And remember to come see me before you leave!_

Genma would probably never admit it but Naruto knew he could be just as bad as Iruka when it came to worrying about him.

Naruto glanced at the clock on the wall, _8:19_. Despite the fact that he wasn't much of a morning person he'd never managed to sleep in ever since he became a teenager. If it wasn't because of school or some other engagement his biological clock just wasn't built that way. And now, because of his nightmares, he was usually out of bed as soon as he woke up instead of lazily snuggling in as long as he could.

He put the note down and walked over to a door at the back of the kitchen. When he opened it he was met by the curious eyes of the mutt in question before it walked tentatively over to him and raised itself up against his leg, its little paws barely felt through his jeans because the dog was so small. When the puppy gave a little whine Naruto bent down and picked him up.

"Aw come here then you big baby." He mumbled to the dog. "You do realize that you won't do my image any good don't you? I'll turn into one of those queers who walk around with a tiny dog as some kind of accessory."

When the puppy met those words with only a bump of his head to Naruto's chin and then a small lick to the side of his neck Naruto couldn't help but think if that would be such a bad idea. Just like the last time he held it the animal managed to calm him more than he seemed to be calming it by the embrace.

Taking a leaf out of Kiba's book he put the pup inside his black military like jacked and then buttoned it half way up so only its head was peeking through. It was raining quite a bit and he didn't want it to get cold, but since he would be gone for almost half the day and his dads wouldn't be home until that evening he didn't want to leave it there all alone either. Thankfully his dog loving friend wasn't anywhere in the vicinity because he'd spent a great deal of the beginning of their friendship making fun of the other boy for doing the exact same thing with Akamaru. Because of the rain he decided to forgo his goggles and instead completed his look by putting on a black fatigue cap which he'd decorated the sides of with an orange fire like pattern, his blond locks a little more tamed by the pressure of the cap now framed his face instead of spiking out all over the place.

He walked quickly, carefully making sure not to jostle the dog too much, until he reached the station. Although it wasn't much of a station to be honest. The small train stop only hosted one small kiosk on the ground floor plus the stairs that lead down to the two platforms below. Nothing like the worn out monstrosity of Suna station or the glamorously modern one near his school. But it was at least a roof over his head while he waited for his train and for that he was thankful.

Once on the train he got lucky enough to snag a seat lining one of the walls. The business man on his right didn't give him the time of day, Naruto supposed he'd probably have to pay him for it if he did, but the two old ladies sitting to his right gave him a look. It was a look Naruto was well accustomed to but not nearly as bad as the usual glares he got for it to bother him. It was a look a lot of teenagers got from old people that clearly indicated that they thought you were a complete street hoodlum and would probably snatch their wallet if they took their eyes off of you for even a second.

Naruto ignored them both and just put his headphones on and turned up his music, taking pleasure in the fact that the loud music could probably be heard by the older women which would undoubtedly annoy them even more. He couldn't hear the huff the lady closer to him made but he did see her turn to her friend from the corner of his eye and slide her purse under the arm further away from him. It made him grin as he slid a little lower in the seat and made himself comfortable, one arm resting lightly over the bulge in his jacked while the other absentmindedly scratched the dogs head.

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Kakashi was feeling restless. He'd had a pretty normal morning, had gone out running with his dogs, taken his shower as usual and then headed out. The uneasy feeling had started as soon as he'd slid into the tattoo parlors backroom. Instead of the usual glare from the owner he'd been surprised and quite wary to see Itachi sitting there with a thoughtful and calculating look in his red colored eyes.

Kakashi had casually asked what was up but both men knew the question had been anything but casual. The uneasy feeling had only increased when Itachi had raised one elegant eyebrow before he answered. The answer was still floating back and forth in Kakashi's mind and had been plastered all over the front of his consciousness as soon as he's arrived to work and discovered that Naruto wasn't there.

"_I'm not sure. Something… interesting… seems to be going on in the Viper's nest. According to my sources he's been to see my father._"

Kakashi thought about using his next break to call Genma and see what was up, just like he'd thought about doing before every break that morning, but then thought better of it. For all he knew the kid was just home with the flu that had been going around and he didn't want to sound like a paranoid stalker. He'd just have to talk to the boy's friends during lunch and see if they knew anything.

If there was something Kakashi had learned during his life it was to always trust his instincts. And right now those instincts were telling him that something important was about to happen because; nr. 1 Itachi was never _unsure_ about anything, and nr 2. Anything that that viper Orochimaru came into contact with just reeked with evil intent.

There was no denying it; Kakashi would have to go down to headquarters today. His bosses were not going to be pleased, he'd been specifically ordered not to have any contact with the boy some 10 or so years ago and although he hadn't been an official member of the force back then he highly doubted that the order had come with an expiration date.

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As much as Naruto hated this part of his trip he knew that he also needed it. After finally reaching the right part of the city by changing trains two times he now had around a 30 minute walk left to reach the cemetery. There were no bus routes that went there and taxi cabs were few and far between in this part of the city.

And so, Naruto walked, mentally preparing himself for the task at hand. Despite the routine Naruto hated going to the cemetery. He felt no comfort in standing over his parents cold dead bodies and tombstones, felt no closer to them there than in his own home.

But for some strange reason every foster home or orphanage he'd staid at had made the trip with him, only telling him that he should at least pay his respects to his parents on the day they died. No one had ever said one word about his birthday and therefore, when Naruto had finally been adopted by Iruka and Genma and they'd asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he'd simply asked them to take him to the cemetery.

Renji made a little whiny noise, snapping Naruto out of his thoughts to realize he'd been clutching the dog a little too tightly.

"Sorry." He mumbled soothingly to the dog as he adjusted his grip on it and patted it comfortingly.

Naruto hadn't even thought about it but he'd been forced to find a name for the dog quickly when a little girl on his second train ride, after learning that the dog didn't have a name, had started to suggest either girl names like Daisy or something ridiculously cute like Snuggles. Not really looking for anything specific he'd settled on the name of a character from one of Kiba's animes he'd grudgingly come to like after his friend had forced him to watch a couple of episodes. It would probably make Kiba triumphantly smug for getting Naruto, who constantly told his friend he really had no interest in anime, supposedly hooked enough on it to name his dog after a character in one but he could live with it. It was infinitely better than having to call his dog cute-ums or something equally horrifying in public.

Naruto was so busy looking at an expensive looking black limousine in front of the cemetery gates that he softly collided with someone as he rounded the end of the high stone wall that surrounded the graveyard. By the look of the person he quickly glanced up at it was probably the owner of the vehicle. He was immaculately dressed in a black suit that probably cost more than everything he owned combined and he had an air of power about him that somehow always seemed to radiate from people in high places. The only thing that was a bit odd about him was his hair, the midnight black strands reached well passed his shoulders and he was wearing earrings that looked like fangs. Not that he was an expert or anything but Naruto had never seen a respectable business man with long hair before, they always seemed to have that military like crop cut or slightly longish hair neatly water combed back, and the earrings looked like something you'd rather see on a goth.

"Sorry." Naruto mumbled for the second time in a short while. He tried to smile apologetically but something about the man made him so uneasy that the attempt failed completely. Naruto just stood there frozen as the man studied him thoughtfully. He couldn't figure out what it meant but there was a look of strange, almost amused, interest in the man's otherwise cold hard eyes that made Naruto's heart beat erratically and he had to fight hard to suppress the shiver of fear that threatened to take over his body. The man was standing with the sun at his back and the lack of light was creating shadows around his eyes that made them positively ominous.

Finally the man smirked, something that only managed to make Naruto even more apprehensive.

"It's alright." The man rasped out in a strange whisper like voice. "It was a… pleasant… surprise to bump into you here." He gave Naruto one last scrutinizing look before he turned on his heel and got into the limousine.

Naruto was rooted to the spot for a moment until the car roared to life and drove off. He really needed to get his life under control soon because something about the way the man said it had just sounded… off… and he could have sworn he heard the man whisper his name as he walked away from him.

When he finally reached his parents graves the cold feeling washed over him again. On each grave, lying on the tombstone was a flower bouquet.

The one on his mother's was a beautiful mix of white and red roses, nothing to be upset about if you didn't include that fact that in all the years that he had been coming here no one had ever left flowers there before.

It was the one on his father's grave however that made the blood freeze in his veins. The blood red roses were so dark that they looked black and the flowers were crumbled and dead.

His thoughts brought him back to the dark haired man he'd bumped into earlier and for a moment he thought maybe he wasn't just being paranoid. As strange as _that_ sounded he really hoped this was just someone's idea of a cruel practical joke.

He stumbled back and nearly fell when he went to remove the dead flowers from his father's tombstone. There wrapped around it like some fancy ribbon was a dead snake.

Renji shuddered and whined inside his jacket as Naruto slowly sank to his knees in front of the graves, he didn't know if it was because of the jostle he'd caused it when he stumbled or if the dog was picking up on his frayed nerves. All that was running through his head was the thought that this seemed a little too personal to be someone's sick idea of a joke.

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If Kakashi didn't have nerves of steel he'd surely be stalking though the hallways of the school snapping at everyone who was unfortunate enough to cross his path, making him lose precious nanoseconds by sidestepping the useless wastes of space. As it was Kakashi was content to walk slightly faster than usual with his head buried in his book even though he wasn't reading it, it was always good to discourage people from trying to talk to him and a good excuse to pretend he didn't see the few brave souls who tried to get his attention. It wasn't that he was in any way antisocial or anything, he'd just learned very quickly in his teaching career that some students, especially girls for some reason, just loved to stop him in the hallways to talk to him about trivial things he had no interest in. For those students who really needed to talk to him about his class he had office hours.

One floor away from the cafeteria he found what he was looking for. Kiba and Shikamaru were standing by a few lockers, the quiet genius looking half asleep propped up against one while his friend rummaged through his.

Kiba barely had time to feel a presence looming over him before a determined baritone voice made him turn around in surprise.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi asked curtly.

Kiba exchanged a look of bewilderment with Shikamaru before he turned to his club instructor.

"He's not here at the moment; did you need him for anything? Since he's not at school he shouldn't have to report…"

"I'm not asking because I'm his teacher and need him for detention; just tell me where he is." Kakashi cut the boy off.

"Well then why do you need him?" Shikamaru asked from behind his friend.

Kakashi took a moment to study the boys. At first they had looked like they just didn't want to have this conversation because they feared other people might hear them but after taking a closer look he noticed that it was something else and he quickly realized that they weren't trying to keep people from overhearing the conversation, they were trying not to have the conversation at all.

"Cut the crap." Kakashi said with a hint of authority in his usually carefree voice, he'd already noticed that there was no one in the area besides them. "I already know that he basically tells you everything and I highly doubt you don't know what's going on between us so there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to tell me where he is."

The knot of uneasiness was beginning to tighten in Kakashi's stomach. If the reaction he was getting from Naruto's friends was anything to go by the boy was definitely not just home with a cold.

The boys glanced at each other again and Kakashi got the distinct feeling that they were actually ganging up on him. If he wasn't a teacher here and they weren't at school he would have liked nothing better than to just ram their heads into the lockers and demand to know where the hell Naruto was but he kind of doubted Tsunade would be willing to get him out of that mess so he squashed the urge and just settled for glaring at them with one cold eye.

Kiba didn't know what on earth was going on and by the look on Shikamaru's face neither did the genius. If it was any other day he would have just told Kakashi where is friend was from the start since he knew he could trust the guy but since Naruto had obviously not told him where he would be or that he would be absent at school then Kiba didn't really think it was his place to explain it all. Plus something really must have happened to get the usually calm man this worked up.

"Did something happen? Is he in any trouble?" Kiba asked, maybe something had happened to one of his dads and that's why they had to find him.

"That's what I'm _trying_ to find out!" Kakashi growled as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared even harder.

This finally got the response he was looking for because Kiba sighed wearily before he glanced at Shikamaru again, giving the boy a tiny nod, and then looked around to see if someone was watching them. The corridor was empty of students who by now had probably already made their way to the cafeteria.

"Ok, ok. Look, I probably shouldn't be telling you this since Naruto obviously didn't. If he throws a fit over this later I've got no problem blaming it on your harassment."

Kakashi just raised an eyebrow with an obvious just-get-on-with-it look.

"It's Naruto's birthday today."

"What does that have to do with the fact that he's not at school?"

"If you would actually just let me finish talking you would find out." Kiba snapped with a growl of his own. He really hated it when people cut him off and the tension in the air was driving him nuts. "Naruto never comes to school on his birthdays. When he was little and still living in foster homes the sick fucks thought it would be _good_ for the boy to go pay his respects to his parents on the day they died, so instead of ever celebrating or even acknowledging his birthday they all just marched him off to the cemetery."

Shikamaru snorted next to his friend and uncharacteristically mumbled "Fucking assholes."

Kakashi sighed. "What a perfect way to make a child re-live his parent's murder." He didn't realize he'd spoken out loud until Kiba answered.

"Damn right about that. He might not remember it but every year a few days before and up until the visit Naruto always gets tense. He's usually right back to normal a few days afterwards and I'm hoping he'll be more relaxed after today; he's been a bit tenser this time around than before. Not as bad as when he was little but still worse than he's been in a long time.

He'll be at the club later today for the training camp but I wouldn't expect to see him any sooner than this afternoon."

Kakashi, taking the hint that this part of the conversation was over, bid the two boys farewell with a promise not to hassle Naruto about his absence and to take full blame for the trust the boys felt they had broken by revealing Naruto's whereabouts.

The conversation had eased some of his fears but he'd still have to head over to headquarters to talk to his superiors. He was definitely _not_ looking forward to it but with things like they were they needed to know the full situation. Glancing at his watch Kakashi decided that there was no better time than the present since he had a few hours to kill before the club started. So he made his way out to his bike and kicked off.

Shikamaru watched him go before he followed his friend, who was loudly complaining about hunger by now. Unlike his friend he didn't think Naruto's attitude recently had had anything to do with the tenseness he usually felt before his birthday but said nothing. If he was wrong things would get better on their own and if not… well then he just hoped that Naruto would open up to someone about it before it was too late.

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**Now if you are smart you've already figured out that the flowers actually have a meaning with this story, if not don't feel bad I'll explain some of it down here.**

**The meaning of the flower on the graves are: **

**Red: True love**

**White: Eternal love, Innocence, Silence, Virtue, Purity, Secrecy, Reverence and Humility  
**

**Black: Death, Hatred, Farewell, Rejuvenation or Rebirth (I was mostly going for the death and hatred here)**

**Snakes are often assosiated with vindictiveness, deceitfulness and revenge.**

**Now I'm not saying Naruto took one look at this and automatically thought "Oh my god! the meaning of the flowers and the symbolism of the snake yare yare yare". It's just that anyone in that situation can guess what that all means and having a dead snake wrapped around some dead flowers certainly doesn't say that the person who left it there liked you very much.  
**


	17. Chapter 16

**Just in case anyone stops in the next few lines and thinks 'what happened to the 5****th**** floor' where I come from the 1****st**** floor is the ground floor, so four floors up from there is up to the 5****th**** floor and therefore everything over that is the 6****th**** floor and up. I just know that some countries count ground floor, first floor, second floor, etc etc. So yeah, it's not a mistake, just how we do things here… anyway on to the story.**

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Kakashi drove passed the tall skyscraper marked elegantly as _Konoha Security and Law_ over the revolving doors of the main entrance. Officially the corporation was just that, a security company and law firm who catered to the elite. Powerful companies and celebrities who had the money and the means to request their services. The ground floor was easily accessible to everyone who wandered through its doors and the next four floors above it were reserved and only accessible by those who had an appointment. But the rest of the building, well the rest of the building, as far as the public new, was used for offices and whatever else was needed to run such a big and successful company such as Konoha Security and Law was.

Of course they would be half right in that assumption; they did indeed house many offices on the floors above. What the public didn't know was that from the sixth floor and up Konoha Security and Law was much more than just a simple security company and a successful law firm, it was a huge organization with its own special forces that not only rivaled such institutes as the F.B.I or C.I.A. but succeeded them by a long shot.

It was called ANBU and they had ties intricately woven into nearly every major business or law enforcements in the city. Where others failed they succeeded, but they succeeded through such underhanded means that no one ever noticed. The credit of their work always went to other, more known, organizations.

The sixth floor and up housed perfectly constructed indoor training areas, simulators and labs, where extensive researches were made both for military and health developments. The top most floors also housed the company dormitories for everyone who, for one reason or another, could not find housing elsewhere.

But the highest floor was where Tsunade and Jiraiya each had their offices and work area and it was there that Kakashi was headed. Therefore he made his way passed the grand entrance and down a side street where he, much to his annoyance because they certainly knew who he was, went through the extensive security check point before he could roll his bike into the massive underground parking facilities.

Once there he made his way over to the heavily secured iron doors that would then lead him to the top floors. There he pulled out a beat up looking library card and ran it through the card slot next to the doors. Kakashi was probably the only one in the whole company who had an all access pass to every corner of the building besides Jiraiya and Tsunade. Because, despite all of their technology and security wonders, no one had seemed to be able to come up with an eye scanner that didn't have a melt down because of his miss matched eyes.

As a slight revenge to the security team, and simply because he always thought it was incredibly funny, Kakashi activated the eye scan once he was on the other side and let it run over his now uncovered eyes. It would take them a while to unfreeze the system and in the mean time all security access areas would be successfully locked down to everyone who didn't possess an all access card. Of course it would land him in trouble but he was sure that it would all be forgotten when he told his bosses just why he decided to grace them with his presence this time.

Xxxxx

Kakashi hummed along with the excruciatingly boring elevator music. He was reclining with his back against the wall opposite the silver doors, one foot propped up at knee level and his arms crossed over his chest. The posture might make him look calm, bored even, but Kakashi was nowhere near calm. He _hated_ elevators, they made him uneasy. As if the fact that it was a tiny little death trap just waiting to plunge him to his untimely demise wasn't enough someone had obviously found it important to make sure that the users last moments would be as horrible as possible by playing instrumental versions of songs nobody liked. He'd much rather take the steps but fit as he was he really wasn't about to climb up 50 floors. He rubbed his covered eye through the bandanna; it always itched whenever he was on one of these things.

As if it remembered.

The elevator halted momentarily, Kakashi stopped rubbing his eye and glanced up at the display screen. He was on the 39th floor, only 11 more to go before he could get off of this blasted thing.

When the doors opened Kakashi gave a lazy half wave half salute and his customary "Yo." As Tenzou walked in.

The brown haired man sighed. "Figures it was you." He mumbled while he pushed in his desired floor. "When are you going to realize that shutting down the whole system that the company heavily relies on is not at all funny?"

"Probably when it stops being funny." Kakashi said smugly.

Tenzou just shook his head and chuckled. "Yes well it does manage to amuse the trainees… and it is quite funny to think of all those lab rats stuck in their glass cages while the security team fixes the problem. Although if I were you I'd be careful of any new equipment they supply you with in the future. One of these days they're bound to pull their heads out of whichever research they are doing at the moment and plot their revenge."

"Mahh… they're way too smart to do anything like that." Kakashi said as he got off the wall and headed out of the elevator as it stopped on his floor. Once out of the death trap he turned around and regarded his comrade with a serious look. "If you can, try to keep your schedule open… Something big might be coming."

And with those cryptic farewell words he walked up to yet another security door, this one made of elegant wood with golden handles. On the other side waited his destiny… well, his inevitable ass whooping at least.

On the other side he was met by the severe and frumpy looking secretary who only gave him a momentary glance before she sternly pointed to the door of Tsunade's office. Kakashi was pretty certain that Tsunade had hired the lady solely for her complete lack of charm and social skills; otherwise she'd probably never get Jiraiya to do anything at work.

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Naruto, who had finally managed to stumble out of the cemetery and make his way back to the train station, found a secluded booth in one of the small restaurants there and ordered a sandwich and a coke, the waiter only gave his dog a cursory glance before walking back to the kitchen. He pulled up his phone and after staring at it for a moment, while his still somewhat trembling nerves settled further; he punched in the number for Iruka's cell phone and waited for his dad to pick up. He didn't have to wait long before the cheerful voice gave his customary phone greeting.

"Iruka, who am I speaking to?" Naruto rolled his eyes for probably the gazillionth time; Iruka was one of those technology clueless people who would bang the TV until it actually did break before he would figure out that it only needed to be plugged in before it could be turned on. A little thing called caller ID meant nothing to the man.

"It's Santa Claus." Naruto responded sarcastically out of old habit. "There was a mix up last Christmas and apparently your son Naruto got some bed linen instead of the Play Station 3 he was due."

"Ah. Yes well I'm terribly sorry but my son is at that tender stage when he needs a lot of clean sheets in case he has a little _accident_ during the night so we thought that gift would be more practical."

Naruto paused for a terrifying second before he moaned. "Daaad… _please_ tell me you did not just insinuate that I wet the bed to the whole teachers' lounge."

"Who said anything about wetting the bed?" Iruka's mirthful voice rang in his ear. "Honestly I don't know why people want to have boys; as soon as they are old enough to stop wetting the bed they find a whole new way to dirty the sheets in their sleep."

"Dad!" Naruto hissed, glancing around the restaurant like he was afraid people could actually hear their conversation.

Iruka laughed. "Don't fly off the handle sunshine, I'm still in the classroom and the kids are all gone. Your street rep is safe for another day."

"Street rep? What street rep? You and Genma never allowed me to have any street rep." Naruto smiled his thanks to the waiter who'd just brought his food over before he focused back on his phone call.

His dad chuckled quietly before his voice took on a more serious tone. "So how are you today sweetheart?"

'_I'm an emotional wreck who's slowly slipping kicking and screaming over the thin line into insanity_' Naruto thought before he answered. "I'm fine dad. Really. It's not as hard as it used to be, you know."

"I know sunshine, I know. But I'm gonna be long gone and buried before I stop worrying about you, you know that."

Naruto smiled. "I know." He said reverently. He would never admit it out loud but Iruka's habit of calling him pet names when he was worried about him always served to remind him just how much the man cared for him. But suddenly Naruto thought why _not_ admit it. He knew all too well that family should not be taken for granted and if anything were to happen to either him or his dads he wanted them to know how important they were to him, how much he really cared for them.

"Dad." He hesitated and fiddled with the fork next to his hand. "You know I love you right?"

Iruka put down the chalk duster he'd been cleaning the black board with before he sat down at his desk. His son's voice had sounded so small and fragile and it made his heart clench that he couldn't be with him right now to wrap him in his arms. "Naruto… Did something happen love?"

"No. I just… if something ever happened… you know right?" His son answered again in that tiny unsure voice.

The young teacher sighed and rubbed his hand over his face to clear the moisture from his eyes. "I know love, I know." He said soothingly. "We love you too, with all our hearts. I might not have carried you for nine months or even known you for the first years of your life but you are my son, our son, and nothing will ever change that. So don't worry about that ok? You mean the world to us."

"Yeah… I just… I don't ever want to take you for granted."

Naruto stared at his sandwich once his call was over. He wasn't all that hungry anymore but he felt much calmer now than he had before.

Xxxxx

Iruka stared into space after he'd hung up. It was a long time since he'd heard his son sound so broken. Angry, upset, nervous or even scared he got plenty of, but he hadn't heard that broken down voice in years. It made him worried, really worried, and he wished, not for the first time that day, that he could have been there with him today. He wouldn't even get to see him until tomorrow when he would come by the youth center with Kakashi. It had been decided that they would come in the morning to teach the older kids but Iruka was going to give the younger ones a day off and would supervise them in the game room so Naruto wouldn't miss too much of his training camp.

After a while Iruka picked up his phone again and dialed Genma's number. Naruto said he would be going to see him before he'd leave for school and he wanted the man to make sure that Naruto was alright before he left.

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Tsunade was sitting in her office looking out the big windows at the city bustling bellow, the high back of her chair blocking her from view of anyone who walked through her door. All those people, all that crime. Every other day of the year she told herself that the streets were safer because of what they did. But this day… only this day did she let herself think about a blond young man and his beautiful wife… and the fact that no matter how good they were and how hard they tried they just couldn't save everyone.

She swirled around when the intercom cracked and her secretary announced the arrival of one of her favorites. She narrowed her eyes on the door, waiting for the brat to show his face. Or as much of his face as he ever showed anyway.

She didn't have to wait long and before the man had even fully stepped into her office she fired at him. "Brat! Would it be too much to ask for you to actually act like the fully grown _man_ that I know you are instead of some immature kid? If you can't be trusted to walk around the building on your own I can always have someone from the security team escort you around to open doors for you."

Tsunade stopped talking, for half a second both eyebrows rose in surprise before she narrowed her eyes again. Kakashi had not looked at her since he entered her office and was now rubbing the back of his head with one arm. She didn't get to be the head of ANBU just by looking pretty and knowing the right people and she didn't have to be the head of ANBU either to see that this man was nervous about something and it certainly wasn't because she was scolding him for fucking up the security system.

Before the man could so much as move another muscle she commanded. "Come in and sit down." She indicated the chair on the other side of her desk before she pressed the intercom button. "Jiraiya, my office. Now!"

Xxxxx

Jiraiya nearly spilled his coffee all over his new manuscript when the intercom crackled. He looked forlornly at the half finished page before he reluctantly left poor Ryuu hanging in the middle of a steamy scene, Tsunade wouldn't call him like that if it wasn't important.

He hastily made his way out of his office and kept his eyes firmly on the floor as he hurriedly walked past the secretary's desk, only nodding slightly so as not to be rude when the woman behind it greeted him eagerly in a husky nasal voice. He tried not to shudder, that woman seriously reminded him of a pig in a pearl necklace and unfortunately she'd taken a very unhealthy, in his opinion, interest in him. Honestly the woman had no neck what so ever because of her porky built and what kind of a name was Tonton anyway for a lady.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he entered Tsunade's office but quickly gulped it back down once he saw the look on the woman's face. Something was up and it didn't bode well.

Xxxxx

Kakashi waited until Jiraiya had gotten himself as comfortable as he could half sitting on Tsunade's desk before he looked up, studying each of his bosses in turn to try to judge their moods.

The heavy silence was broken soon after by Jiraiya as he asked. "Sooo… anyone want to tell me what's going on or was I called in here to judge a staring contest?"

Tsunade only gave her partner a momentary glance before she turned her glare back at Kakashi. "Speak." Was the only thing she said.

And so, Kakashi did.

He told them all about accidentally finding Naruto again, how he had only wanted to see how he was doing for himself instead of relying on the little tidbits and news he'd been able to worm out of anyone who'd heard even the slightest thing about him. Because Tsunade and Jiraiya always refused to give him even the slightest hint of how he was, even going so far as to block his access from any of the boys files.

He told them how, once he'd started talking to the boy, who had no idea who Kakashi was anymore, he just couldn't walk away and how, due to some divine joke, events that he had no control over had made it impossible for him to do just that. How the boy had joined the club he was instructing in his sabbatical from work, how the principle of the school had specifically asked him to look after the boy after he had been falsely accused of a crime and how one of the boys adoptive fathers had called in an old debt and asked him to help his son teach a few classes while his boyfriend was away due to a broken leg.

And lastly he told them just how much he cared for the man the boy he once knew had grown into and that there was absolutely no way that he could ever walk away now.

Not so long after his story Kakashi found himself sitting outside the office he'd just been in staring dazedly at a homey plant and listening to the secretary type away on the computer while his bosses held a meeting about all he had just told them. He'd been asked quietly by Tsunade to go and wait outside for a bit, he couldn't help feeling like a little kid who got sent to his room while his parents argued over him. Not that he really knew what that was like since he'd never experienced that in his childhood, but he was pretty sure the feeling was similar to the one he was feeling at the moment. He didn't know if he should be relieved or not over the fact that they had decided to ask him to leave instead of arguing over him like he wasn't even there.

Xxxxx

Tsunade sighed as she watched the young man leave. She'd always known their decision in this matter would come back and bite them, she'd just never imagined it would be like this.

"This has to stop! Naruto will end up getting hurt." Jiraiya concluded as he took the seat Kakashi had just left.

Tsunade looked at her oldest friend defiantly. "What about Kakashi? This might be just what he needs! You know he hasn't been the same since that night. And this might end up being what's best for Naruto as well, he'll have to deal with it at some point."

"We can't risk it!" Jiraiya snapped. "Tell Kakashi to back off now. I know they are close but Naruto will get over it, it'll be infinitely better than what might happen if this continues. You know what happened last time!" He almost shouted at the blond woman.

He had nothing against Kakashi, he and Tsunade both had a big soft spot for the young genius. But Naruto was his godson and he took that bond very seriously now. He might have failed the boy in the beginning of his life but he'd pulled his act together and there was no way he would fail the boy again, and if that meant Kakashi had to pay for it then that was just how it had to be.

"No! Last time we did what _you_ wanted and look what that got us." Tsunade argued. "Kakashi became a robot who only lived for work and Naruto got kicked between foster homes where people treated him worse than dirt until by some divine joke Genma's boyfriend decided to take him in."

"I should know!" She cried. "I was the one who had to watch Kakashi turn into an emotionless death machine, I was the one who had to clear up the shit every time he went too far on a mission and I was the one who finally had to put my foot down and tell him that he'd either get his shit together or end up on the most wanted list himself."

"I was also the one who had to monitor Naruto and handle all of his transfers and I was the one who had to see the system and laws we value so much fail him every single time!"

Tsunade paused slightly but not long enough for Jiraiya to speak up. The blond woman pointed an accusing finger at her friend.

"It's easy for you to talk about running away from the problem or ignoring it because that's exactly what you did last time! When will you learn that turning your back on something doesn't make it disappear just because you can't see it anymore?"

Tsunade didn't expect the man to answer her rhetorical question but after what seemed like an age of silence the old man seemed to deflate in his chair, his shoulders dropping as he fixed his gaze on the desk between them.

"The last time I pushed at a problem that should have been left alone it snapped back and I lost the man I considered to be my son."

Tsunade's eyes softened. "We both did old man." She said as she laid her hand over his. "Let's not overstep ourselves and loose two more alright?"

"Besides, it's too late to do anything now. We don't even know if anything will happen, all I know is that if we separate them now they'll both be hurt for sure. But if we let them be and see what happens then at least there is a chance that things might actually go right for those two for once. They need it… we all need it."

Jiraiya regarded the woman with wary eyes before he gave a slight nod. She always had been the smartest one of the old trio, definitely nowhere near as cunning as Orochimaru or as hardworking and determined as himself but smart she was. And unlike her two old friends she knew how to work with people, it was the reason he gladly let her rule the company they had helped build. Despite what she wanted you to think the woman cared and where others saw workers she saw people, individuals, who all had their own contributions to make to the company.

For once he decided to leave his hot head out of the matter and just trust fate to finally shine some fortune into his godson's and Kakashi's life.

"I guess we were fools." He said quietly.

Tsunade gave his hand a little squeeze. "That we were old man. That we were." She answered just as quietly. "But even fools can learn from their mistakes."

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Naruto walked into the locker room of the dojo and sat next to Kiba who was in the process of dressing himself in his martial arts outfit. A simple pair of sweat pants and a loose fitting sweater this time.

They didn't have a specific outfit they were required to wear for a number of reasons. The main one being that they practiced many different styles of martial arts and the school couldn't afford to supply them with different outfits each year and it was against school policy to have students pay for any equipment needed for clubs, this was done so anyone who couldn't afford said equipment could still participate in the club of his or her choice.

Some, like Kakashi and Neji, opted to just wear a variation of the judo or karate outfits. Others, like Naruto and Kiba, simply wore something comfortable like sweat pants and t-shirts or long sleeve shirts depending on what they were doing. There was simply no describing the category Gai or Lee fell into, especially after the weather had turned colder and they had both started wearing those orange leg warmers with their spandex outfits.

"Hey dude." Kiba mumbled around the collar of the sweater he was in the process of pulling over his face. "You just made it for warm up. Get your suit on and I'll show you where to drop your bags off before we head out yeah?"

There was no mention of Naruto's day before he came here and for that he was thankful. His friend knew him well and what Naruto needed at the moment was to just forget how he'd spent his morning and go on with his day like he did any other day of his life.

He'd gone and seen Genma earlier to drop off the dog before he took the train to school. Iruka had apparently called the man shortly after Naruto had talked to him and after his dad had pretty much forced him to sit down with him on the old worn out couch he had in his office Naruto had finally cracked a little bit. He'd told his dad that he was having nightmares again and how they left him feeling uneasy in the mornings, the understatement of the century if ever there was one, and how he was worried about spending the weekend over at the training camp because of it. That he was afraid to make a fool of himself in a room full of his club mates.

His dad had pulled him into his arms then, something he very rarely did these days, it had always been Iruka who had been more of the comfort type and who still ignored Naruto's loud grumblings whenever he hugged the boy. And Naruto had hugged him back just as tightly, feeling a bit disappointed in himself for not talking to his dad sooner. Genma had stroked his hair just like he used to do when Naruto was younger and offered to call Kakashi and ask him if Naruto could sleep in another room but he wouldn't hear about it.

He'd told his dad that he'd just talk to Kiba and ask the boy to wake him up if he got a nightmare, but as he watched his friend happily bustle about getting ready he found that he couldn't do it. He needed this sense of normal. Just two friends getting ready for practice and chatting about unimportant things. He didn't want to have to ask his friend to wake him up before he screamed his head off and woke up the whole room. Have his friend walking on eggshells around him all weekend because Naruto just might fly off the handle and do something crazy.

He just wanted to be normal.

"Get a move on lazy-pants. God knows what Gai will make us do if we're late! We'll probably end up running 200 laps backwards while blindfolded or something." Kiba said as he slapped Naruto playfully on the hip.

Naruto snapped out of his brooding and smiled at his friend. "Yeah yeah dog-breath. I'm moving, I'm moving." He said as he pulled his sneakers out of his gym bag.

"Pheeww, well at least my feet don't smell like something crawled inside my shoes and then started to rot." Kiba faked a gag. "I'll just take your bags to the room while you finish and we'll look at it later to speed things up. Wait for me by the door yeah? Safety in numbers and all that." He winked and darted out of the room with Naruto's overnight bag.

Naruto just watched his friend walk away smiling. Yep, this was exactly what he needed.

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That night Kakashi was lying on the pull out couch he had in his office. Before Itachi had offered him, in a very roundabout way, the apartment he was now renting he'd pretty much been living in his office after he'd moved out of his room at headquarters, hence the sleeping couch.

He'd been surprised to find both of his bosses rather calm when he came back into Tsunade's office earlier that day, he'd been expecting a huge argument not the reserved individuals who had greeted him as he walked through the door and told him to do what he thought would be best. He'd been so shocked he'd almost forgot to tell them about what Itachi had told him that morning. They would keep their ears and eyes open but until Orochimaru actually did something that could be considered criminal there was very little they could actually do. And the viper wasn't known for making rookie mistakes or leaving behind any evidence of his supposedly illegal activities so it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack to pin anything on him or figure out what he was doing until it was too late.

As he lay there in the dark he was suddenly roused from his thoughts by quiet noises coming from the hall. They were barely there but due to his training they didn't have to be in order for Kakashi to pick them up. He reached up and picked up the bandanna he'd left on the back-headboard of his makeshift bed. He pulled it on and slanted it over his sensitive eye before he reluctantly got out of bed and made his way over to the door of his office to investigate, he didn't have to bother with a mask because he usually slept in one of his ANBU issued tank tops which came with an attached mask.

'_Why am I not surprised?_' he thought as he spotted the source of the noises. If he didn't like him so much the boy would certainly be the bane of his existence.

"Naruto." He called quietly to the boy. "What are you still doing up? We have an early start tomorrow."

The boy jumped slightly before he turned to look in his direction. He was wearing a worn out t-shirt that must have been an old favorite since it was now about two numbers too small for the boys frame and loose pajama pants that rode low on the boys hips, leaving a tantalizing line of skin exposed between top and bottom and making Kakashi wonder if the boy hadn't just walked right out of his wet dream and into the hallway.

Naruto stepped from side to side nervously at some point deciding to plunge his hands into the pockets of his pj pants, not knowing what else to do with them.

"Why aren't you in bed like the rest of them?" Kakashi asked him when no answer was forthcoming.

The boy shuffled closer to his door before he mumbled. "Not really tired that's all." Not looking at the man.

Kakashi studied him in the low moonlight that filtered in from the windows. He didn't buy that story for one minute, the boy looked like he hadn't slept in weeks and would keel over or simply fall asleep standing in that exact spot soon.

He increased the opening of his office door. "Come on, get in." He said. Once inside he lead Naruto over to the sleeping couch and tucked the boy in before getting in himself at the other side. His brain only spared a few seconds to contemplate how natural that action had felt before he rolled over and regarded the other occupant of the bed, who was at the moment doing exactly the same from his side of it.

"Can… can I stay here tonight?" Naruto asked hesitantly. He´d tried to go to sleep in the dojo where the rest of the club members had spread out their futons but he'd been too restless to manage it. Everyone else had fallen asleep over an hour ago and Naruto, finally having had enough of tossing and turning had gotten out of bed and wandered around aimlessly, wondering if he could find some quiet place he could drag his futon to. He'd have to wake up before the rest of the group anyway to go to the youth center, so he'd be able to put his futon back again without anyone realizing it. So if he got a nightmare no one would know.

He studied the shadow that was lying opposite him on the bed, he couldn't really see much of Kakashi's features in the dark, just the basic outline of him and a few details depending on where the almost none existent light hit him. Staying here with the man just felt so natural to him that he thought he wouldn't have any trouble falling asleep.

Kakashi sighed softly, the mask blocking the sound as it escaped his lips. He shouldn't allow this, should send the boy right back to the dojo where the other students were but he had a feeling Naruto would just go back to wandering the hallways if he did and there was something about the boy that just made it impossible for him to say no to his request.

He wouldn't let the boy win so easily though and therefore said. "If you tell me why, I'll let you stay."

"I…" Naruto hesitated and then he did something he had never done before. He opened his mouth and poured his soul out. He didn't know why, but somehow it just felt right. He wanted to tell this man everything, wanted him to know everything. And if he was still there after all of it… god he hoped he'd still be there after all of it… then he knew that he'd never have to doubt the man ever again.

Kakashi sensed the change in the young man. He reached out for him and pulled him closer, maneuvering him so that he was now spooned with his back against Kakashi's chest and his head resting against his bicep. He nuzzled the back of Naruto's head before he whispered. "Tell me."

"I have nightmares." Naruto said. He pressed a little closer into the chest behind him and then lightly grabbed the hand that was cradling him, one thumb soothingly rubbing back and forth across his chest, not restricting it but simply holding it for that extra bit of comfort.

"Bad?" came the gentle whisper in his ear.

"Yeah."

"You want to talk about it?"

"I can't…" Naruto paused. "It's just… the nightmares aren't really about anything most of the time. I'm just running, searching for something. It's not really images but feelings that are so terrifying."

"What are you searching for?" Kakashi gently pushed when Naruto stopped.

Naruto closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he plunged on. In order to make him understand he had to tell him the beginning, how it all started, and… how it had ended. How he was still carrying the demon of his past around with him today.

"When I turned six my parents were murdered." Naruto whispered. "I was there when it happened… but… I don't really remember any of it. The doctors say that it was probably so traumatizing that I blocked out the memory."

"What do you remember?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask despite knowing he shouldn't. But maybe it would do the boy good to talk about it.

"Just… bits and pieces of the day before the murder. Everything else I found out afterwards either in the hospital or from hearing other people talk about it. I was never really involved in the case, I was too young and the case was solved and closed before I was even out of the hospital anyway."

Kakashi wrapped himself tighter around Naruto. He knew all of this already, but his companion didn't know that, and he needed the boy to tell him. Naruto needed to talk about it.

"Tell me." He breathed in the young man's ear.

"It was my uncle." Naruto finally said and now that he had started he couldn't seem to stop. "My mother had an older brother that came and visited us often. He was my absolute favorite… I thought he was so cool. He had long red hair like my mother, a goatee and this huge tattoo of a nine tail fox on his chest. I'd never seen it before… all I remember is opening the door that day to see him standing there… he wasn't wearing a shirt so the first thing I noticed was the tattoo… and the last thing I remember is that he grabbed me."

"That's what I dream about. I'm always searching, I guess I'm trying to remember, but it always stops at that moment. And I feel like the world is crumbling down and I wake up and I can't breathe." Naruto said, a quiet sob escaping him.

"Shhh" Kakashi soothed him. "It's over, it's all over, he's gone now."

"It's not." Naruto shuddered. "It never will be. _He_ never will be. Not completely."

"It's just a dream…" Kakashi tried to reassure the shivering boy.

"You don't understand!" Naruto cried as he wrenched himself out of Kakashi grip. He sat up and turned to face the silver haired man again, he collided with a firm chest before arms encircled him again. "I died." He pulled back far enough to look into that one eye he could barely make out. "He killed me and I should have stayed dead!"

"Naruto…"

"I don't know how it happened… but he got wounded in the attack… they kept us both alive long enough to get us to the hospital… and then they transferred his heart into me."

Kakashi froze. This was one thing he had _not_ known about. He knew Naruto had been brought in and spent hours in surgery while the doctors had operated on his badly wounded heart and that his uncle had died on the way to the hospital but this… this was something he'd never been told. Something none of the files he had managed to see had mentioned.

"_His_ heart is beating in my chest! I'll never be rid of him! The scars on my face, the scar on my chest… every single heartbeat only serves to remind me of that monster."

"Shhh." Kakashi hushed as he pulled the boy closer until he had him straddled in his lap. "Shhh." He soothed as he clung to him and rocked him slowly side to side while he rubbed slow circles on his back. And when he felt the first tears soak through his thin shirt he pulled his mask down and kissed them away carefully. "Shhh. I got you." He was pretty sure the boy wouldn't be able to see his face in the dark but even if he could he didn't care anymore. He just wanted to sooth this young man he cared about more than anything. "I got you now."

He didn't know how it started. Didn't know how long they had been sitting there like that. Before the slow tender kisses turned into something more heated. The slow circles turned into sensual caresses. And the hands that had been clutching his shoulders moved and tangled themselves in his hair while their tongues slid against each other.

Soon they had to break apart for air. Kakashi studied the young man in his arms, his eyes had always worked well in the darkness. Naruto looked like an angel. He had tear stained eyes, lips swollen from kissing and he was panting in between the occasional sob. He looked so young and vulnerable… and it was the most beautiful thing Kakashi had ever seen.

He was going to stop, make sure they didn't do anything the boy might come to regret the next morning.

And then Naruto thrust his hips forward, rubbing their erections together in one hard move that made them both moan, and all thoughts left him. He had just about enough sense left to decide that he would not fuck the young man through the mattress like his body was screaming at him to do.

When the boy continued the frottage Kakashi put his hands on his hips and stopped him. Naruto gave a whine that could have sent Kakashi over the edge then and there.

"Wait." Kakashi mumbled into the boy's mouth as he kissed him again before he collected the pillows against the headboard. He seated himself up against them and then pulled the boy back to him so the boy's back was again situated against his chest.

"Kakashi…" Naruto moaned as the man's erection was now rubbing against his ass through their pajamas.

Kakashi was kissing, nibbling and licking every part of the boys neck he could reach, working his way up to gently bite his earlobe before he worked his way down again, across the back of his neck and then up the other side.

He ran both hands down the sides of Naruto's body and when they reached that agonizing smooth skin where the boy's t-shirt ended his left hand slid under it before he slowly brought it up his stomach, his fingers tracing unseen patterns across is abdominal muscles before they sneaked up and started rubbing and teasing a nipple.

His right hand slid lower, first running down the outside of a thigh before he firmly brushed it up the inside of it and up to the bulge in the younger man's pants.

"Kah…" Naruto moaned as a firm hand closed over his cloth covered cock. He clenched his hands in the fabric over the other man's thighs as he involuntarily bucked his hips. The sensation was incredible and he couldn't help but do it again. Each time he did Kakashi's hand would rub more firmly over his now leaking erection, the fabric of his own pajama pants only serving to heighten the sensation, and the man's own cock would slide further into the crease between his cheeks.

"Please…" He begged.

"Please what Naruto?" Kakashi breathed hotly in his ear.

"Please…" Naruto begged again. He didn't know what he was begging for. Just knew he needed something. The kisses on his neck, the fingers pinching and soothing his nipples, the hard cock at his back and the firm hand on his erection were driving him wild.

When Naruto started thrusting his hips faster and breathing harder Kakashi knew he was close. The boy gave a mumbled protest when he took his hand away but then cried out loudly when Kakashi slid it into his pants and wrapped it around his straining cock. One, two tugs later and Naruto was shooting his load over Kakashi's hand, the boy's hips bucking wildly in his orgasm was too much for Kakashi. He bit the younger man's shoulder hard enough to leave a mark and growled as he rode out his release.

When it was over and he could catch his breath again Kakashi moved them both down until they were spooned against each other, Naruto's head tucked under his chin, legs wrapped together in a tangle.

Kakashi buried his nose in the boy's hair and kissed his forehead. "I got you little fishcake… I got you." He mumbled before sleep took him.

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**Phew… there goes the longest chapter I have ever written. **

**I already used Shizune in this story so I had the **_**brilliant**_** idea of just using Ton Ton as the secretary.**

**Tenzou will be referred to as Tenzou simply because that is his real name, if I decide to use him in the story like I'm thinking about doing in the future he'll be using the codename Yamato much like he is doing in the manga/anime **

**I pretty much shot myself in the foot when I used all the better known names for teachers or unimportant characters because now that I'm writing about Kakashi's "real" work I have pretty much no names left to use… but who knows… if I need more you might see certain sand siblings making an entrance or something.**


	18. Chapter 17

**Before you point out how "wrong" I am let me just tell you. **Basically every wiki or biography out there will tell you that Kakashi's eye color is black. The only place I've ever seen him having blue or gray eyes is in fan art and fan fiction and therefore I'm disregarding that idea.

**I generally don't make long chapters in this story, **I tend to cut them off at some point and post them separately as 2 chapters and I do this for 2 reasons.

**Nr1: **I find longer chapters harder to work with and usually they can stand well enough on their own in two 's easier for me to proof read and fix shorter chapters.

**Nr2: **it gives you something to read much faster than it would have and I can then spend more time on the second part without feeling guilty about not posting anything for what feels like forever even to me.

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_Naruto woke up scared, he'd had a nightmare. His room was too dark and the shadows on the walls were creepy and ghost like. He buried deeper under his blanket, he wanted to get out of the room but his door was too far away and he was too scared to get out of bed, the monsters might grab his feet. Safety was too far away. _

_After a while he'd mustered up enough courage. He clutched the blanket a little tighter with his small hands as he leaned over the side of his bed to check the floor. After making sure nothing was there and gauging the distance between his bed and the door he took a deep breath and ran for it, his blanket wrapped around his body like a magical cloak that would protect him from the horrors that awaited him. _

_Once in the narrow hallway Naruto crept slowly down to the other end where the second bedroom was, it was dark and scary in the hallway too. The open door to the bathroom looked like an opening of a black hole, go to close and it would swallow you. He took another deep breath and jumped quickly passed it and with that initial burst of speed he half ran the rest of the way until he reached the closed door. He hesitated momentarily, he was scared but he was supposed to be a big boy now, he'd even stopped using his nightlight last month. _

_Glancing down the hallway towards his room helped him make up his mind, he couldn't go back now. One small hand found its way out from under the blanket and knocked hesitantly on the door._

"_Nii-san" Naruto called quietly through the door. He listened intently for any sound coming from the room but heard nothing, only the creaking that could sometimes be heard in the apartment and the loud ticking of the grandfather clock on the living room. It made him feel more scared and he huddled closer to the door._

"_Nii-san" he knocked a little harder. He wanted his brother but he didn't want to make a lot of noise, it was so quiet that the sound of his own voice scared him. _

"_Nii-san!" He called a little louder. Naruto's eyes teared up and he shook as he moved his weight rapidly from one foot to the other. _

_Finally he heard a slight noise coming from inside the room before a drowsy voice called back. "Naruto… Naruto is that you?" _

_Naruto opened a crack in the door. "I… I had a bad dream." He said tentatively. _

"_Mmm." His brother mumbled. "Come here." And as Naruto ran up and crawled in next to him he scooted over to make room. _

_Strong hands wrapped him tighter in his blanket before they enveloped him in safety, chasing the shivers and fright away. _

"_Don't be scared. I got you little fishcake. They can't hurt you now."_

Naruto woke up slowly, for the first time in a while he hadn't had a nightmare. He couldn't remember his dream but he remembered feeling safe and it was such a wonderful feeling compared to the past few weeks, waking up this calm.

That is until he woke up properly and remembered what happened the night before, his underwear sticking to his skin was a big help and the hand gently shaking his shoulder was something that was a little too hard to ignore.

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Kakashi had woken up about an hour earlier. He'd been a bit conflicted at first, feeling guilty for not having told Naruto the truth and for what they had done the night before… but also, for the first time in a long time, he felt happy. Not just content or good, but actually happy. And in the end that feeling won out, he'd make it work no matter what he had to do to accomplish it, if it blew up in his face he'd just piece it back together. So for the first time in a while he was feeling pretty optimistic about the whole thing.

The best way to keep things good between them would, of course, be to treat him well and so Kakashi had gotten carefully out of bed so he wouldn't wake the boy up. According to their conversation last night the kid got regular nightmares and seeing how he hadn't had one this time Kakashi had decided to let him sleep a bit longer and get more rest. Meanwhile Kakashi had taken a shower before he snuck into the dojo where everyone else was sleeping to get Naruto's bag.

After going over the days schedule it was finally time to wake up the sleeping blond so Kakashi stood up from his desk, walked over to the sleeping couch and gently shook the younger man's shoulder.

The muffled "Just five more minutes dad." That the boy sleepily mumbled into the pillow was positively the cutest thing Kakashi had ever seen, although he'd never in his life admit that to anyone. Which was probably good because he had a feeling Naruto wouldn't appreciate being compared to a cute little kid however much he resembled one at that moment. Kakashi shook his shoulder again.

When Naruto sat up and blinked the blurriness out of his eyes the reality of the situation finally hit him full force and he blushed beat red. Pulling his knees up and placing one hand in his lap he nervously fidgeted with his hair with the other just to have something to do with his shaking hands, or maybe it was to hide his face, or maybe it was both. He didn't really know, he just had to do something and it made him feel slightly better.

"Uhm… What time is it? I mean… how much time do I have to get ready?" He couldn't look Kakashi in the eye; the guy probably regretted the whole thing. What if he'd made a serious mistake and Kakashi was really just messing around with him and would now laugh in his face and throw him out. Because who in their right mind would want to be with someone related to _that_ man… shit, he'd even told him about everything, there was no way Kakashi would want to be with him now.

"Naruto." Suddenly a hand gripped the arm that had been lying on his lap… except it hadn't been in his lap. Sometime during his thinking Naruto had started clawing at his heart like he always did without realizing when he got worked up. Frightful blue eyes met a solitary black one.

"You're nothing like the man, so don't beat yourself up about it."

"You don't know…" Naruto mumbled.

"Would you ever murder your sister, her husband and their kid?" Kakashi asked him point blank, his eye boring into him like he could see right into the deepest corner of his mind.

"NO!" Naruto cried horrified.

"That's your answer right there then. You're not him and you'll never be him. A heart is just an organ that pumps blood, and no matter what anyone says sons are not responsible for the sins of their fathers, let alone their uncles. If they were whole families would be put in jail and not just individuals." Kakashi said as he stood up straight and started walking to his desk again. "And as for your other concerns all I'll say is that I might be a perverted bastard but there's no way I'd jump a student the day he turned 18 just for a laugh." He looked back at said student who was still looking delightfully rumpled from sleep.

If Naruto was judging his expression correctly he'd say the guy was grinning. Not wanting to talk further about his uncle he latched onto the later part of what Kakashi had said. "Oh what a heartfelt declaration of love that was." He said sarcastically. "I think I'm going to swoon."

"Yes well, I didn't exactly have time to write you poetry and buy you flowers so this will just have to do." Kakashi said as he threw Naruto's bag at him. "Now go take a shower so we can leave already."

"Why bother, I'm gonna get all sweaty again when we get there." Naruto said and then yawned; the trouble with sleeping well was that he didn't feel like getting out of bed at all.

"Because brat! I'd rather not show up in front of both your fathers with you looking like you just had sex." Kakashi said with a smirk.

"Ok, ok, point taken. I'm going." And with that said Naruto finally got out of bed and headed into the bathroom adjoining the office.

As the door shut Kakashi let out a chuckle. The boy seemed to be in a better mood than usual today, maybe his friends had been right and he'd just been tense because of his birthday. Of course some of the tension had probably been his fault as well.

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"_Daaaad."_

"_Yes Naruto?" The blond haired man answered patiently._

"_Where is he?!"_

"_He's taking a little nap, he was working very hard today so he wanted to rest a bit before coming over." _

"_But he said he'd be here!" _

"_He will. Just not just yet."_

"_Why not." _

"_Because he's very tired sweetheart." The red haired lady said as she walked passed and into the kitchen. Making a small detour to ruffle his hair and kiss the blond man on the cheek._

"_But I wanted to show him!"_

"_You can show him later when he comes over." _

"_Daaaad." _

"_Yes Naruto?" The blond haired man said with a smile, the same patient tone still clear in his voice. _

"Naruto."

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts by a knock on the bathroom door.

"Did you drown in the shower or something?" Kakashi asked through the door.

"What! No sorry, I'm almost done." He called back. He looked back down at his goggles that he'd been just about to put on. When he looked in the mirror to adjust his hair he noticed a single tear running down his cheek. _'Shit, I really am losing it.' _He thought as he wiped it away.

He took a few deep breaths before opening the door and walking back into the office. He was starting to remember things about that day it seemed, this was the second time he'd zoned out like this. He didn't really want to but maybe getting Kakashi to make a short stop at his house on their way back wouldn't be such a bad idea. _'Just in case…'_

"There you are. Everything ok?" Kakashi asked him while he gathered the things he needed to take with them to the youth center.

"Yeah, everything's fine." Naruto said as he grabbed his jacket. "I'm ready."

"Ok, let's go then."

"How are we getting there?" Naruto asked a bit uneasily.

"On my bike." Seeing the unsure look on Naruto's face Kakashi added. "Why? Is that a problem?"

"Ah… no, no. Just… make sure Iruka doesn't see us on it."

Kakashi could make a wild guess just what the blush on the boy's face meant but he wasn't entirely sure why Iruka shouldn't see them on the bike.

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Well Kakashi soon found out the reason why Iruka should never ever see him give his son a ride on a motorbike when they reached the youth center. He'd had to dodge a madly waved crutch while the shorter man threw a fit. Kakashi had learned the hard way that the guy had a nasty sense of humor but he never knew such a short and innocent looking man could be this scary. He could give Tsunade's legendary temper a run for its money. Thankfully for him Genma decided to step in and share his view on the matter, which greatly differed from Iruka's, and so the brown haired man's attention quickly moved from him and over to his boyfriend.

"Is he always this over protective?" Kakashi half whispered over his shoulder.

"I did warn you." Naruto mumbled behind him before he led the way down to the sports room.

"He's not gonna castrate me or anything is he when he finds out we're dating?" Kakashi said offhandedly as he walked into the big hall and got ready to set things up for their class. Naruto paused momentarily.

'_Dating'_ Naruto thought, the word made him feel oddly tingly inside and he couldn't help but grin as he turned away from the man and started flipping on the lights. _'I wonder if that makes him my boyfriend then.' _He'd never had a boyfriend before, it was a bit scary but he liked the idea very much.

"Nah, oddly enough Iruka doesn't seem to worry about my love life overly much. I mean sure he hassles me about it but it's mainly just teasing or to snoop what guy I like at the moment, he says I'm a great judge in character and that at least so far he trusts me to make the right decision. Plus he's one to talk, he started going out with Genma when he was younger than me I think. It's Genma you need to worry about really." Naruto flipped the last switch and walked over to Kakashi to help him set up the rest of the cones they would be using for the warm up exercises.

"Genma? He doesn't really strike you as the over bearing parent figure if you ask me."

"Yes well considering what happened last… time…" Naruto trailed off before he went any further with that story. "Well, let's just say you wouldn't want to find out." Naruto didn't even know how Genma had managed it but after the whole incident with him, Haku had very shortly afterwards moved out of town and his boyfriend had followed soon after.

Kakashi sensed that there was some underlying story behind Naruto's words but didn't want to pry, instead he jokingly said. "Ah, well I'm not taking any chances then. You'll have a ring on that finger no later than tomorrow and no more fooling around until you're 43!"

Naruto just raised his eyebrows and gave him a look that clearly said _'Uhu… like you'd ever manage to do that.'_ Before he walked over to the storage area of the room to put away the left over cones.

"You're right." Kakashi's voice said close behind him before arms encircled him and pulled him tight against the man's firm body. "Now that I know what I'd be missing there's no way I could leave you alone."

"Perv!" Naruto said with feigned indignity as he elbowed Kakashi loosely in the side.

Kakashi let him go and watched him walk back over to the center of the room. "You keep saying that like it's a bad thing." He called after the boy before he walked over to join him. Naruto's respond was halted by the sound of voices from the hall that signaled the arrival of their first students.

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_Naruto was sitting in the hallway, head bowed so far down his chin was touching his chest, fiddling with his thumbs and dangling his feet in the air. He'd always been quite small for his age so even on the low bench his feet didn't touch the ground. In a way it was the reason he was sitting here in the first place. _

Why did it have to happen today…

_He'd often get teased for his height, or lack thereof, so he tried to make up for it in other ways, he didn't have many friends but his pranks and clownish behavior had made him at least somewhat popular in his class. _

His nii-san was picking him up today…

_Usually he tried not to let it bother him but that big bully Ukon just wouldn't let it go this time and Naruto had gotten so angry he'd hit him. It had ended up in a big fight, which Naruto had amazingly won by imitating some stunts he'd seen his brother doing. But of course Sakon, Ukon's twin brother, had gone screaming to the teachers, which was the reason Naruto was now sitting outside the teachers' lounge while his homeroom teacher talked to his older brother._

"_Naruto."_

_Naruto didn't dare to look up and instead stared at his brother's shoes. He was wearing some pretty old and badly worn sneakers and Naruto briefly wondered why he didn't get new ones before his brother's voice snapped him back to the present._

"_You know you shouldn't do that Naruto." His brother said calmly. _

"_He started it." Naruto said stubbornly into his chest. _

"_He might have started picking on you but from what I hear you started the fight…"_

"_He deserved it!" Naruto cried stubbornly at his brother's sneakers._

"_What could he possibly have said that made him deserve that?" His brother asked confused. _

_Naruto buried chin further into his chest and mumbled his answer. He didn't really want to tell his brother what Ukon had said._

"_Naruto." His brother reprimanded him._

"_He said you weren't really my brother!"_

"_Naruto…_ We're here."

'_Huh'_ Naruto snapped his head up. Instead of looking at his older brother's face he now stared at the side of Kakashi's helmet covered head before he looked around to take in their surroundings. They'd stopped in an alley somewhere it seemed.

Naruto shook his head while he tried to make sense of what was going on. He had no clue why they were now in an alley somewhere and not at school and this last flashback made no sense to him what so ever. He could faintly remember the bullies who'd teased him when he was younger but Naruto had never had an older brother while he grew up so that part was just plain weird. Perhaps he wasn't really remembering things after all.

'_Great._' He thought. '_I actually am going insane._' Naruto thought back to the box he'd buried at the back of his bedroom closet. It was a bit too late to ask Kakashi to go back for it now, Naruto had been too distracted when they left the youth center to ask him to make the stop, and he wasn't even sure the meds he had there would help him. He hadn't told his fathers about it but a few months before he'd officially stopped taking his medication at 13 he'd started stashing the pills in his closet. He'd been taking the medication since shortly after he'd started therapy when he was around 10 or 11 years old to help with his panic attacks but at the time he'd felt that they weren't doing anything for him even though his psychiatrist insisted that he stay on them a little longer. Needles to say he'd finally managed to convince Iruka and Genma that he really didn't need the medication and soon after he was off the meds he stopped going to the checkups that were required because of them.

He never wanted to touch those meds again; it would mean that there really was something wrong with him. But he'd kept them there all the same because deep down inside he still had that nagging voice saying "_what if_."

Kakashi watched the boy look around with a bewildered look on his face as he got off the bike and took his helmet off; carefully making sure the left side of his face was turned away from the boy before he pulled the bandanna back down.

"Were you even listening to a word I said on the way?" Kakashi asked amused.

"Uhm… apparently not." Naruto said as he took his own helmet off. "Where are we exactly?"

"Oh just the alley where I'm going to have my wicked way with you before I drug you, steal your liver and then sell you off to slavery." Kakashi stated matter of factly.

"Uhu, sure." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Well you'd never know. You weren't listening to me in the first place."

"Well I'm all ears now."

"Too late!" Kakashi huffed unconvincingly. "I don't really feel like talking to someone who just ignores me."

Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes again. "You know, sometimes I wonder who's supposed to be the grown up in this relationship."

"Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional" Kakashi said as he pinched Naruto's nose. Before he could see Naruto's indignant response he turned around and headed for some stairs near the bike. "As _I told you earlier_ I'm just here to pick up some things and feed my dogs, I'll be back in a second. Just go in there and if anyone bothers you tell them you're with me." Kakashi pointed to a door under the stairs before he disappeared inside.

"Wait!..." Naruto called after him before he looked cautiously at the door. He didn't exactly feel like standing around in an alley somewhere only god knew where but he didn't exactly feel like going into some unknown building either. After standing there nervously for a few seconds though he decided that out of two evils the door seemed like a better option since Kakashi had told him to go in. He'd trusted the man so far and so far Kakashi hadn't done anything horrible to him so how bad could it be?

Once inside Naruto decided he was never going to trust Kakashi ever again and that clearly he should have just stayed in the alley no matter how many muggers or even cold blooded killers frequented the place.

Surely any one of them would have been better company than the majorly creepy 'Do you have a death wish' glaring Uchiha, because there was no mistaking what family that devil had been spawned in. And did the guy _really_ need to wear those blood red contact lenses? Because in Naruto's opinion he'd look menacing enough without them.

After standing there frozen for what seemed like hours with his heart beating in his throat the man finally moved, causing Naruto to flinch like he'd been struck. That was it; Naruto had had way too many bad dreams about red eyed monsters to deal with this shit. He was getting out of there and taking his chances in the alley, but before he could turn around and bolt out of there the man spoke.

"Sit down." It wasn't really a request and Naruto found himself sitting at the opposite end of the table before he could wrap his mind around what the guy had even said.

If Itachi had been shocked to see that particular blond boy walking in through the back door of his tattoo parlor he didn't show it. He never showed much emotion on his face other than annoyance apart from his legendary glares. It didn't mean he wasn't prone to feel anything other than negative emotions, he'd just learned very early on not to show any _weakness_ as his father had called it, usually if something had pleased him it had been taken away. Uchiha heirs apparently should not care about anything else but the business and how to look impeccably dignified while looking down on the _commoners_. If it hadn't literally been beaten out of him Itachi would have rolled his eyes at the mere thought of it.

When the boy almost started to hyperventilate Itachi cursed Kakashi's foolishness silently, because who else could have brought the boy here and sent him in through this entrance, clearly he had not warned the boy just what he'd be walking into. Clearly the boy wasn't very comfortable around stranger, with good reason, and Itachi knew he wasn't exactly the friendliest looking bloke around. He might be anti-social to a fault and had no difficulty with keeping people away from him with his hard exterior but he took no pleasure in scaring the life out of people who'd already had enough emotional traumas to last them a lifetime.

Therefore Itachi thought a little damage control couldn't hurt; no matter how annoying it might be, so he got up from the table after Naruto had sat down and walked over to the sink.

"Drink this." He said as he placed a glass of water in front of the boy.

Naruto looked at him apprehensively before he tentatively reached for the glass. He didn't take his eyes of the man until he sat down opposite him and looked back; as Naruto's eyes searched the small break room for anything else to look at he could feel the cold eyes boring into his skull.

After what felt like hours of uncomfortable silence Naruto finally stammered. "Uhm… Ka..Kakashi said I should wait he… here."

Itachi just glared at the boy a bit more before he bent down over his papers again. He wasn't cut out for small talk and something told him he'd only manage to scare the boy even more if he tried, so he opted for ignoring him instead.

Naruto was just starting to relax when a loud commotion could be heard from inside the house before a shouting match started up.

Itachi thought the boy was going to jump through the ceiling like a frightened kitten when it started. He put his pen down and rubbed the bridge of his nose with the index fingers of both hands before he got up and walked to the door leading into the main part of the tattoo parlor. He so didn't need this right now. When he ripped the door open the voices could be heard more clearly in the room.

"… The fuck do you mean by that you fucking ugly bastard! You don't know shit! Just go back to whatever hole it is you crawled out of you fucking stitched up freak!"

Naruto vaguely thought he recognized that voice but before he could place it the Uchiha dude spoke up.

"What." Naruto thought it was amazing how just that one word, spoken in a quiet yet dreadfully commanding voice, could successfully shut the screaming men up. "Is the meaning of this?"

When no one answered Itachi continued. "If you don't have a reason, then make sure you don't disturb me again Hidan." He said before he slammed the door and stalked back to his seat. He gave the weary boy a glance as he sat down before he turned his red eyes back to the papers. He didn't know whose fault it had been exactly but Hidan and Kakuzu were the reason he was sitting here on a Saturday redoing the accounting for that week. If that wasn't enough he now had a guy in there with him who looked like he was about to work himself into a nervous breakdown courtesy of Kakashi.

'_And speaking of the devil_.' Itachi thought as the back door opened again.

"Ah I see you've met Itachi." Kakashi said as he finally made his way into the break room. His statement was met by two almost identical glares; although Itachi's would always be scarier Naruto's surprisingly came quite close. He wondered briefly if Itachi had been teaching the boy while he was away.

"Right, guess we should be going then." Kakashi said as he rubbed the back of his head, he really should have warned Naruto now that he thought about it. "Lots of things to do and all."

As he made his way outside after the quickly retreating back of Naruto he distinctly heard Itachi mutter "Idiot." Under his breath.

"You know you really could have warned me!" Naruto snapped once they were both outside and getting ready for the ride back to school. Although he'd soon figured the guy wasn't going to hurt him or anything it hadn't exactly been a picnic in the park staying cooped up with him in that small room.

"He's not so bad once you get to know him really." Kakashi said as he handed Naruto his helmet. "He's Sasuke's older brother you know."

"I knew he was an Uchiha!" Naruto exclaimed as he put the helmet on. "Guess I should be glad _he's_ not the one stalking me." He shuddered just thinking about it. "As if I don't have enough nightmares already."

Kakashi paused in the middle off fastening his own helmet. "Sasuke's stalking you?" He asked incredulously. "Somehow I find that very hard to believe."

"Well believe what you want, he still is. I can't seem to go anywhere at school without him breathing down my neck while he _graciously_ tries to _help_ me."

"Huh." Was all Kakashi thought to say before he got on the bike in front of Naruto and kicked off. He'd seen the boy sitting with Naruto during lunch recently and although he'd thought it was strange he hadn't really thought that much about it. This was a bit different though and worth looking into, especially after what he'd heard Sasuke's fan club of two talking about outside the cafeteria the other day.

"I didn't know you lived over Akatsuki." Naruto commented.

"Yeah well me and Itachi go way back and he offered me the place when I needed it." Kakashi called back.

"Figures." Naruto mumbled to himself. He just hoped Kakashi didn't have any other majorly weird friends he'd have to associate with in the future.

x.x.x.x.x

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If Naruto and Kakashi had known how the day would end they probably wouldn't have been so carefree. But even with all the flashbacks he'd been having even Naruto wouldn't have been able to predict how utterly wrong things were about to turn out. No one did.

Things had been good after they got back to the dojo. Naruto had blushed beat red when Kiba had greeted him with one eyebrow raised and a knowing look on his face but thankfully they had been hoarded into a small class room where they had been shown video's from previous competitions while Gai and Kakashi pointed out mistakes and good techniques and Kiba had known to keep his big mouth shut during that time.

It all came crashing down later when they were paired off to fight one on one. Kiba and Naruto had paired off like they usually did for the first fight. They were pretty equally matched so they tended to use the first fight to warm up properly and get the blood flowing before they moved on to something more challenging.

They found a good spot on the floor and since one on one fighting could often move around they were required to have a lot of space between themselves and the next pair, making it easy for them to talk without being heard, which Kiba took complete advantage off once they started.

"So. Care to tell your good old friend just exactly _where_ you slept last night hmm?" Kiba said as he plunged at Naruto. "Or was there not much sleeping going on?"

Naruto evaded him easily and grabbed a hold of one of Kiba's arms in an attempt to twist him down. "If you _must_ know I _slept_ very well in Kakashi's office."

Kiba used the hold Naruto had on him to pull him closer, managing to land a hit in Naruto's side before the shorter boy let go and jumped out of range again. "And?" He said as he blocked a kick with his arms.

"And." Naruto huffed while he dodged another blow. "That's all I'm going to say on that subject." He grinned before he leapt to the side evading Kiba's charge yet again and managing to trip the boy at the same time.

It all happened so fast that they never saw it coming. They'd been fighting and taunting each other for a while, like they usually did when they fought, when Kiba looked over Naruto's shoulder, spotting Kakashi walking towards them to observe the fight.

"Don't look now Naruto, You're boyfriends coming." Kiba said jokingly while spinning a high kick.

Naruto, who normally didn't get fazed by anything Kiba threw at him, momentarily did. It only took a second but it was long enough for Kiba's kick to land squarely on the side of his head before he could block it. Naruto had just about enough time to feel it coming before his head exploded with pain. He staggered to the side clutching his head.

The room seemed to be spinning and when he looked up he could see Kiba's blurry face but he couldn't hear what he was saying. All he could hear was the pounding in his head as it beat like a heart. Ba-bump. He tried to shake his head to clear it but it only made it worse. Ba-bump. Naruto started breathing faster; he felt like he was going to be sick and the heart beat was driving him crazy. Ba-bump, ba-bump it went on and on in his head like he was stuck in one of his nightmares and couldn't wake up. He staggered once again and found strong hands gripping him tightly. '_He caught me._' Was the last thing that rang through his head before he blacked out.

Kakashi had been walking slowly over to them observing their fight when he saw it happen. It was like he was watching it in slow motion when Kiba said something to distract him and Naruto had quickly turned his head and looked at him before turning back around, way too late to block the kick coming his way and Kiba, not expecting the other boy to lose his focus like that, could do nothing to stop the kick. Kakashi watched as Naruto staggered once and then again while he ran over there, he just managed to grab the boy before he fell down and lost consciousness.

He turned to Kiba and yelled at him to run to the emergency box and get an icepack, sufficiently managing to snap Kiba out of the shock he'd been in up until then and as the boy ran to do as he asked he turned back to Naruto. He carefully changed his grip on the boy as he lowered him slowly to the ground, making sure not to jostle his head. Once he'd positioned the boy securely he felt his skull and then his neck for any fractures or other injuries he might have sustained. Finding none he sighed in relief before he felt the boy's neck for his pulse, it was a bit fast but slowing down at a decent rate.

At that point Gai came running over to them as well and soon after Kiba returned with the icepack and a towel. "Gai, get the students out of here, we don't need an audience!" Kakashi snapped at his co-worker.

"Right…" Was all Gai said before he gestured to Kiba.

"Leave him!" Kakashi snapped again before he ripped the icepack out of the boy's hands wrapping the towel around it before he placed it carefully against the area where the blow had landed.

Gai snapped his hand back like he had been burned before he ushered the rest of the students, who'd at that point come to see what was going on, out of the room.

"Come on Naruto, wake up." Kakashi urged the boy he was now cradling in his arms. After making sure nothing was damaged Kakashi had thrown caution to the wind and settled the boy in his arms.

"Shouldn't he be…"

"What!" Kakashi cut Kiba off.

"N…Nothing." The brown haired boy said as he backed off a bit.

Kakashi knew deep down that the boy was right and that Naruto should indeed be lying down properly but he couldn't bring himself to let him go again.

"Come on. Come on, open your eyes." He urged the boy again.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Naruto could hear a voice calling him, pleading with him. Begging him to do something he wasn't quite sure about. He felt hands touching his arms, gripping them, but not painfully, even though the firm hold should have hurt his little arms the feeling was a bit numb.

When the blackness started to fade a little Naruto could hear the voice more loudly. The adolescence voice of Take-nii-san.

"Naruto! Wake up Naruto!"

Why did Take- nii-san sound so worried. He was just tired that's all. Was just resting his eyes a bit. Maybe he just wanted him to wake up to play with him. Take- nii-san was supposed to look after him tonight and they were going to play the new game he got for his birthday.

"Naruto... Stay with me! Wake up... Please you have to stay with me!"

What was nii-san talking about now? He was right here, he wasn't going anywhere. He was just tired. Really tired. He tried telling his nii-san that but when he tried to speak he only coughed. He could feel a numb pain start in his chest and he shivered, it was becoming really cold in the room.

"Naruto... open your eyes… please Naruto."

Why was Take- nii-san crying? Naruto fought the tiredness and managed to open his eyes. He was met with the terrified mismatched eyes of his nii-san. Now Naruto was scared. Why was Take- nii-san's face covered in blood? Was he hurt? Naruto tried asking him what was happening but he couldn't speak. He only coughed again. Spraying more blood on his nii-san's face. Suddenly the grip on his hands became painful; the sting in his chest became unbearable. He wanted to scream but he couldn't, he couldn't breathe. He could only cough up more blood, his throat making gurgling sounds when he tried to gasp in air.

And then there were more people in the room. Pulling nii-san away from him. He tried to reach out for Take- nii-san. Tried to protest, but he couldn't move and nothing came out but the sickening red blood. The strangers surrounded him then, shouting at each other before they wrapped him in something and picked him up. He tried to keep it from them but the knife he had been clutching fell from his hands and clattered on the floor. In the panic he could still hear a voice calling him but it sounded different now and there were hands back to gripping his arms, but they were bigger now.

"Naruto wake up! ...please open your eyes!"

Present day Naruto snapped his eyes open. They were met with the single black one of Kakashi's and for a moment Naruto could see his face covered in blood. This time he did what he couldn't do all those years ago when the monster had taken his family away.

He screamed.

A painful, terrified, guttural scream. And once he started he couldn't stop. He just continued screaming and when someone pulled Kakashi away he screamed even more.

Someone else was grabbing him now and he could see people moving about around him just like that night. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should recognize the person in front of him but his mind wouldn't supply him with the information. All he could think about was his nii-san. His whole mind was focused on him. He had to find his Take- nii-san. Where had they taken him? Why had they taken him away?

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**Runs and hides in the closet. **I swear I'm working on the next chapter so it should be up within a month at least XD


	19. Chapter 18

**Warning:** This chapter contains violence and some swear words, plus a lot of angst.

Sorry for the late update but I decided to actually pass all my tests and courses instead of writing this chapter… it seemed like the smart thing to do for my future.

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"What the hell happened?" Kiba cried as he pushed Kakashi away. He grabbed Naruto and tried to get him to focus on his face. "Naruto! Naruto calm down!" He tried to placate the boy but it was like his best friend was looking right through him, Kiba tried everything he knew to calm him down but Naruto just kept screaming.

Kakashi could only stare numbly at the scene, shocked to the core at what had happened, he'd thought he would never have to go through this again, thought that things would work out this time, but he had been wrong. He should have listened to Tsunade and Jiraiya and just stayed the hell away. Why couldn't he have just stayed away? Then none of this would be happening, he was sure of it.

It was almost identical to what had happened all those years ago when Naruto had woken up after his surgery. The look on his face, mild confusion that had quickly changed into pure terror, and the horrible scream that had seemed to never stop, not even after Kakashi had been dragged out of the room. It was all brought back in this moment and Kakashi suddenly felt exactly like his 16 year old self had felt as he stood outside the door of the little kid he cared about more than anything. How his hands shook as he listened to the only remaining person he considered family screaming in sheer terror, all because of him. How his world had crumbled as he was sat down and told that the child he'd been willing to give up everything to take care of didn't even remember who he was, and that he was never to see him again.

"What on earth is going on?" Kakashi probably would have thought it was funny how Gai could always sound quite calm and normal in circumstances like these, when he was always overly dramatic normally, but since Kakashi generally had other things on his mind in these circumstances he'd never really thought about it. In this case Gai's urgent question was what snapped Kakashi out of his brooding. He was trained to work under pressure, trained to keep on going even when the man next to him, the man who was guarding his back, was shot down. Kakashi knew pain, knew how to use it, how to inflict it and most of all, how to block it out. That was something he'd learned very early on in his life.

"He's in pain!" Kakashi barked at Gai.

"It doesn't look like…" Gai started but was cut off

"He's in pain! It doesn't matter what the hell it looks like but that's what you're going to tell the rest of the kids as soon as you _get them the fuck out of the room again_!" Kakashi ground out through his teeth.

And sure enough the rest of the club was all back in the room trying to see what was going on.

"What are we going to…" Gai tried again.

"I'm handling it!"

Gai took one more look at Naruto, who was still screaming no matter what Kiba tried to do, and then he looked back at his friend. Kakashi had always been good at hiding his emotions and moods but this was different. The man before him now wasn't hiding anything, because there was nothing to hide. There was no life in his eyes, only cold, hard determination. It scared him, and Gai wasn't easily scared. Therefore he decided that it was probably best to just do exactly what Kakashi ordered and get the rest of the kids out. Hopefully his friend knew what he was doing.

"Kiba! Go get your car keys and meet me in the parking lot." Kakashi snapped as he grabbed Naruto and hurled him up, clutching him tightly to his chest before he hurried out to Kiba's car, not even looking to see if the boy had done as he'd been asked. When Kakashi had picked him up Naruto had stopped screaming but he wasn't any better off now. As soon as he'd enfolded him in his arms Naruto had stiffened like a board, his eyes were screwed tightly shut, hands clutched tightly against his body and in front of his bowed head to guard off some unseen enemy and he was hyperventilating. If Kakashi hadn't been carrying him bridal style Naruto would've most likely been curled up in a ball.

Kakashi didn't have to wait by the car for long before Kiba came running. He stood impatiently staring at him while the boy did his best to get the key into the slot with his shaking hands, in reality it took about ten seconds but for Kakashi it felt like hours before Kiba finally managed to get the passenger door unlocked.

Kiba would later on moan about the scratches he'd made on the car door in the process but at the moment he was more afraid that Kakashi would murder him on the spot if he didn't get the door opened no sooner than last month than about the paint on his car.

Kiba knew better than to argue as well when Kakashi grabbed the car keys from his hands and ordered him to get in the back with Naruto. He just jumped into the car, sat down next to his friend and mumbled reassuring nonsense to him while Kakashi sped off to who knew where.

Kakashi's first thought was to take the boy home to his fathers but decided against it almost right away, instead he grabbed his cell phone and pressed one of the speed dial buttons. He didn't give Tsunade a chance to do more than answer before he started barking out commands, he didn't tell her what had happened or what was going on, only that it was an emergency that had to do with Naruto so they needed to get his fathers down there as soon as they could, get a doctor ready to examine the boy and to tell the blasted security team to let them in without the stupid 3rd degree.

Before Tsunade could even utter one syllable in response Kakashi hung up. He clenched and unclenched his hands on the steering wheel and stepped harder on the gas. Come hell and high water he was not going to fail the boy now. He would fix this no matter how hard it would be, no matter what he had to do.

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"What the hell did you do to him?" Iruka screamed. Genma looked torn between wanting to hold his lover back and charging at Kakashi himself.

As soon as they had arrived Kakashi had grabbed Naruto again and ordered Kiba to follow him as he marched over to the elevators only pausing for the brief seconds it took for him to flash his all access card and even that felt like too much of a hold up for him. He was immensely glad to see that Naruto had calmed down considerably on the drive over but the boy was still a little disoriented and, not surprisingly, didn't seem to know what was going on. Kakashi could feel him shaking in his arms as the boy clung on to his shirt, his eyes still tightly squeezed shut.

He'd taken the boy to the medical ward and reluctantly left him there with Kiba while the doctors examined his head. Kakashi would have staid himself but Tsunade had given him clear orders to wait in another room for Naruto's fathers to arrive, it would be his responsibility to explain to them just what was going on as Tsunade herself had no idea.

Of course Tsunade had her suspicions but she'd wowed to stay out of the matter and let Kakashi and Naruto sort it out this time and she was going to keep to that promise no matter how hard it was.

"I didn't..." Kakashi began. His hard determination had fled soon after Naruto's dads had arrived. He had a feeling an angry Iruka could do that to a person.

"You must have done something! This doesn't happen to Naruto unless something triggers it! What the hell did you do?" Iruka cried again. He felt like a caged animal, he wanted to pace but his broken leg made that impossible so instead he stood over Kakashi, who was sitting on an old couch in what appeared to be a break room, demanding to know what the man had done. Something had happened to his boy and he wanted answers.

Kakashi was feeling numb, was this really his doing?

"Do you know who he is? Is that why you're doing this? None of that has anything to do with Naruto, do you hear me!" Iruka continued, getting more frustrated by the minute. Genma had tried to get him to sit down but he was having none of it. "If you just wanted someone to mess with you should have picked someone else! You have no idea what this kid has been through…"

"Yes I do." Kakashi stated quietly. He was shaking now, fists clenched as he stared at the two men with his sole visible eye.

"No you don't!" Iruka ground out between his teeth. "You weren't there when he was screaming his head off after waking up from a bad dream. You weren't there when nothing we said or did could calm him down. You weren't ther..."

"I _**was**_ there!" Kakashi yelled back as he stood up abruptly causing Iruka to stagger back, weather from the shock of Kakashi's outburst or to avoid a collision he didn't know. "I was there long before _you_ came along, I was there long before it happened and _I was there the night his uncle murdered his parents_." The last sentence was just above a whisper, ground out through clenched teeth. "I _was_ there." He repeated. "But I couldn't be there for him afterwards."

Iruka and Genma were both stunned by that revelation but no less than Kakashi was himself over blurting things out like that.

Suddenly the silence that had descended on the room following Kakashi's words was shattered by the sound of breaking glass. All three men whirled around to see Naruto standing in the doorway with Kiba; a shocked looked gracing both of their features. A broken glass of water lay shattered by their feet.

"What... what do you mean you were there?" Naruto asked numbly. An image of Kakashi covered in blood entered his mind again. His hand shook uncontrollably and he leaned against the doorjamb in case his legs decided to give out.

"Naruto we'll sort this out later, you need to rest..." Iruka began.

"NO!" Naruto objected. "What I need now is to know what the hell is going on!" He looked at Kakashi as he said this. "Who the hell are you? What the hell do you want from me?" He cried. Kakashi could feel his heart clenching as he looked into Naruto's hurt eyes. "Just stop messing with me and tell me what you want." Naruto exhaled as his legs gave out. Kakashi took a step towards him but stopped as he was sent two pairs of death glares from Iruka and Kiba. The dark haired boy grabbed his friend by the waist and helped Naruto towards the couch where he then sat motionless.

Genma looked between his old friend and his adopted son. He didn't like it but this needed to be done and like things were now it would be much better if it was sooner rather than later. He turned to his long time partner and Kiba. "Come on you guys, I think this needs to be done in private."

"What! Hell no, I'm not leav..." Iruka snapped.

"Iruka!" Genma stopped him. "I don't like this any more than you do but Naruto needs to work through this and as much as I don't like to admit it I think Kakashi is the only one who can help him now. This has obviously got something to do with the both of them and I have a feeling _both_ of them need this. This time we would only be in the way." Genma hugged the shorter man tightly. "He'll tell us about it later when he is ready."

Turning his head he lowered his voice so only Iruka could hear. "I know all you want to do is take him home, tuck him into his bed and cuddle him until it gets better like we used to but please… just trust me for now. Trust him right now." He kissed Iruka's temple before steering him towards the door. "What he needs right now is something neither of us can give him."

Before he pushed Iruka and Kiba out of the room he put his hand on Naruto's shoulder, waiting until he raised his eyes and looked at him. "Don't worry sunshine, it'll get better soon. It always does yeah?" Genma kissed the boy on his forehead, it took everything he had in him to say the next few words but no matter how much Genma wanted to pick Naruto up like he did when he was little and carry him home he knew that it was out of his hands. This was something he couldn't fix. "I'm going to take Iruka home now and calm him down; you know he doesn't handle stress well. I'm leaving my phone with you so call Iruka's cell or the house phone if you need us alright?" Genma looked pointedly at Naruto as he stroked his hair repeatedly.

"We'll always be there for you when you need us you know that right?" He waited for his son to nod before he pulled him into a hug and whispered in his ear. "I know it's hard but listen to what he has to say. The Kakashi I know is a good man; he's nothing like Haku or the rest." He gave Naruto one last kiss on the forehead before standing up.

Genma paused by his old friend on the way out, silently asking Kiba to take Iruka out of there with a slight head jerk towards the door.

Kakashi was nervously clenching and unclenching his fists. He'd wanted to tell Naruto about their past for a long time now but he'd never wanted it to come to this. He knew what he'd been doing would probably come back to haunt him but he thought he'd have time to make it right, to slowly ease into it. He wasn't expecting the whole thing coming crashing down around him and then having to salvage the damage all at once, although he should have seen it coming. Things were never simple or ordinary when you wanted them to be.

"I'm not sure I can do this." He said to the toothpick chewing man.

"Cheh.." Genma snorted. "Sure or not you're doing it. If not for you then you'll do it for him or I swear I'll make you wish you were never born and after that I'll let Iruka lose on you and believe me after that even your ancestors will wish they'd never been born."

When Genma was gone and the door was shut Kakashi slowly turned around and looked at the broken boy sitting on the worn out couch, his back turned to him. He walked slowly up to Naruto and extended his hand, just wanting to brush his fingers through his hair, lay his hand on his shoulder or even stroke his back. He just wanted to touch him and in some small way reassure them both that he cared and it would be all right. But the word's Naruto mumbled then stopped him.

"I don't _have_ an older brother."

Kakashi pulled his hand back and clenched his fists. He always felt it odd that a few simple words could make the human heart feel like it was breaking in two. He walked around the couch and let himself carelessly fall down on it on the other end. He didn't have anything to say to that statement no matter how much it had hurt him to hear it.

"I suppose that's true." Was all Kakashi could mumble in return. The words sounding hollow even to his own ears.

They weren't exactly brothers anymore, hadn't been for a long time, and Kakashi certainly didn't want them to go back to that considering how he felt about the boy now.

So why the hell did it hurt so much to hear that.

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Naruto studied the man sitting next to him on the couch, he was still shaking from his panic attack and a bit disoriented. He didn't have a clue where they were, he didn't know a lot of things right now it seemed. He'd always had the feeling that he'd known Kakashi for a long time but never thought anything about it; lots of people were always saying how they felt like they'd known each other for years after only being together for a while so Naruto had just chalked it up to being something similar to that. And then it turns out that he'd actually known the man, or the man had known him.

And he'd never said anything about it.

Naruto ran one shaky hand through his hair and swallowed a few times before he managed to croak out. "whe-when were you going to tell me?" He cleared his throat, getting bolder once he'd started talking, and pierced Kakashi with a hard look. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

"I…" Kakashi started before he paused. Shaking his head to clear it up a bit. He was going to continue but Naruto had seen his headshake and misunderstood it as a negative response to his question.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Naruto snapped at him. "Is this some sick joke, I know you think it's funny to fuck with my head but I never thought you were this cruel!"

"I didn't mean…"

"You didn't mean what?" Naruto cut him off. "To mess with me? You've already done plenty of that! To lie to me? When the hell have you ever told me the truth!" Naruto was yelling now. "Didn't mean to get caught? To lead me on like you actually felt something for me? What the fucking hell do you want from me!" Naruto screamed as he stood up from the couch and rounded on Kakashi.

The man just sat there completely still, not even a small sign of the slightest discomfort visible on him, like he was just having a relaxed conversation with a friend. It infuriated Naruto even more.

"Naruto please…" Kakashi said, his voice still sounded tortured and hollow to him but Naruto was too angry to notice, he mistook the hollowness for calm. "Let me explain…"

"No, you know what. Fuck you!" Naruto bit out. "And fuck your explanations! I could have used them before this whole thing started but it's a little too late now, I don't wanna hear it just because you're sorry you got caught and want to make yourself feel better." He stormed away from the couch and towards the door before he stopped and turned around again. "You _couldn't be there for me after my parents died_! You couldn't be there when I needed someone the most in my life! Some older brother figure you were." He said to Kakashi's stiff back. "Well I turned out just fine without you and I'll continue to be just fine without you in the future! I don't need you…" Naruto took a deep breath before he breathed out. "Just do what you did back then and leave me the fuck alone, it shouldn't be that hard."

He turned back towards the door and stormed out. If he'd staid in the room he might have seen the loan tear slide down Kakashi's cheek before it got absorbed in his mask. He might have seen the man shakily wipe away the second one before it could escape the single eye that was staring blankly at the opposite wall. But Naruto had been to upset and angry to notice much and Kakashi had been to numb from guilt and pain to say much.

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Naruto had just made it down the hall and found the elevators when he felt someone approach him from behind. He turned around with a glare, hoping and not hoping that Kakashi had come after him. He stamped down on the disappointment he felt when his glare fell on Tsunade instead of the man he'd just left. He was just about to open his mouth when the elevator opened and Tsunade pushed him in and punched in the button for the top floor.

Naruto didn't notice what button she pushed, he was too busy kicking the elevator wall and swearing.

Tsunade took one look at the boy before she gave an audible sigh and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She'd promised herself that she wasn't going to interfere this time but she'd been standing in the shadows outside the room Kakashi and Naruto had been in and heard the blonds final words. She'd wanted to make sure the two of them would work things out but apparently Naruto had flared up before Kakashi could even begin and knowing how Kakashi was he'd probably sunk into himself and just taken it. The young man was completely incapable of lifting a finger against the boy even if it meant defending himself.

Well there was nothing for it now. Tsunade would have to interfere. This thing was going to get settled soon even if she had to lock them up in the holding cells they had and force them to stay there until they'd worked things out. What she needed to do now though was to force the blond brat to listen.

When the boy kicked the elevator wall again and called Kakashi names Tsunade lost her patience, instead of waiting for the elevator to reach her office she hit the emergency stop button and rounded on Naruto.

"What the hell" Naruto snapped when the elevator stopped but shut his mouth again when he caught the look on Tsunades face. He'd been too mad to pay her much attention but the deadly glare she was sending his way now made it pretty impossible for him to look away now. Tsunade was even better than Iruka in angry glares.

"Do you know why Kakashi wears masks?"

It took Naruto a few seconds to process the question which Tsunade had asked in a quiet hard voice. He swallowed a few times nervously before he answered.

"No, he never told me."

"Did he ever take it off in front of you?" Tsunade asked again in that quiet voice that still managed to cut right through him like when Iruka yelled at him.

"N…" The denial died quickly on his tongue when he remembered last night. "Only once… but it was pitch black so I couldn't see his face." After hesitating for a minute he asked annoyingly, some of his anger coming back. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"More than you can ever know." Tsunade said cryptically. Naruto was going to ask more questions but Tsunade waved him to silence again. "Did he explain why he wears it?"

"No." Naruto ground out through his teeth, annoyed that he was getting this question again.

"Did you even give him a chance to?" Tsunade asked him with a look that felt like she wasn't looking at him so much as looking right into his very core.

Naruto fidgeted a bit before he mumbled defiantly. "No, I don't need to hear his excuses."

Tsunade crossed her arms under her breasts and leaned against the elevator wall. Why did she have to be saddled with idiots who were too broken or stubborn to realize that they needed each other? And then she remembered that it was probably partially her fault that this had happened. She'd been the one who made the decision to split them up in the first place, she might not have come up with the idea herself but she'd had final say in it as the head of the organization after the death of Naruto's father. She should have known Kakashi wouldn't be able to stay away indefinitely.

"When Kakashi was 14 something happened in his life that completely broke him." At Naruto's curious look Tsunade rolled her eyes before continuing. "I'm not going to tell you the story, it is Kakashi's alone to tell when he wants to."

"Your father, despite all the discouragement he got, decided to take the boy in. Kakashi himself has said many times that that single act of kindness was what saved his life but it's not entirely true." Tsunade's hard stare turned softer. "Minato wasn't the only one who saved his life that time. What did save his life was you." She said as she put her hand on Naruto's shoulder and looked him directly in the eyes. "You were 4 years old at the time and from the very first moment you met you idolized him. In your eyes he could do nothing wrong and slowly but surely you managed to convince him that he wasn't as bad as he himself felt he was. And in return Kakashi cared about you more than he ever let himself care about anything in his life then."

Naruto sank against the adjoining wall of the elevator near Tsunade. "Then why… Why did he just leave?" Naruto ground out, but the force in his voice was gone.

Tsunade closed her eyes against the regret before she caught Naruto's eyes again. "Because I ordered him to." She said quietly.

"What?" Naruto stared back in confusion. He really couldn't begin to comprehend what on earth was going on. He had no idea where he was or what on earth Tsunade was doing here, or how she was connected to his dad or his work. He'd thought she was a lawyer since she'd handled all of his custody cases but he had a feeling she was a lot more than that. Kakashi had said that he'd been in training or in Special Forces or something when he was younger and Tsunade had just said she'd given him orders. He didn't have a lot of time to figure anything out because Tsunade began talking again.

"Kakashi was the one who found you… after the attack. He went with you to the hospital and he never once left your side after you came out of surgery. They barely managed to sit him down long enough to tend to the cut on his face he was so set on getting to you."

"He was hurt?" The image of Kakashi's blood covered face flashed in Naruto's mind again and he shivered.

"A single cut on his left cheek, nothing serious but it needed stitches and would leave a scar. No matter how much we asked him he never told us how he got it."

"Is that why he…" Naruto waved his hand numbly in front of his face indicating the mask. He could barely speak now, the story and his words earlier both weighing heavily on his mind.

"No." Tsunade squeezed his shoulder once reassuringly, although who she was trying to reassure she didn't know. "Kakashi doesn't wear a mask to cover any physical scars. He never even covered up his eye until after that day."

"What… what happened?" Naruto whispered.

Tsunade sighed, she really wished Kakashi could have told Naruto about this himself but the wound of that day was still so ingrained in him that she wasn't sure he'd ever manage to tell Naruto just what had happened. Kakashi didn't show it but she knew that deep down the hurt still lingered in him, festering because Kakashi had locked it down before it had a chance to heal.

"You have to understand, Kakashi was willing to give up everything for you. He was only 16 then but he came to me and begged me to be allowed to take care of you." Another squeeze on the shoulder she still clung to. "He wanted to adopt you Naruto. It would have meant the end of his career or any further education he might have had but he didn't care. He said he'd give up everything he ever owned as long as he didn't have to give up you. And I was willing to help him achieve it."

Tsunade took a deep breath before she took the final plunge.

"But then you woke up. You took one look at him and then started screaming, you had a complete mental breakdown. It took days before you recovered enough, before you were coherent enough, for us to question you… and what we found wasn't good. You hadn't only blocked out everything that happened during the attack, you'd completely forgotten everything about Kakashi too. But it wasn't just that, if it was I would have been inclined to allow you two to stay together, but every time you saw his face you had a panic attack… he couldn't even be in the same room as you."

"So I ordered him to never contact you again." When the silence had stretched out for a couple of minutes Tsunade finally answered her own question. "The day you woke up Kakashi took a surgical mask and covered his face. Maybe he was hoping that by hiding his wounds you wouldn't be upset, or maybe he had a feeling that his face was the trigger. Whatever it was it didn't work… but Kakashi never stopped wearing the masks."

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Kakashi didn't know how long he'd sat there after Naruto left, it might have been mere minutes or it might have been hours. The pain he was feeling was paralyzing and his thoughts were sinking him further and further into depression.

"_I don't need you!" _

Naruto had been right, he hadn't been there for him when he needed him the most so what the hell was he doing trying to be there for him now. He'd lost the right a long time ago. The boy had been fine before he selfishly forced himself into his life again, all the while telling himself that his actions were justifiable. They weren't, he just wanted them to be. He'd barged into the boy's life with lies and half truths and convinced himself that he could just fix it all later. Like anything he had to say for himself could ever make up for what he did.

Everything he touched came crumbling down in the end. He hadn't paid any attention to his father's troubles until he found him in his study, lying in a pool of blood from the bullet hole he'd put through his head.

He'd been the one who refused to go after Rin when a rival gang had kidnapped her, he'd been too mad over losing his eye in a previous fight; Obito had gone after her alone. He'd finally manned up and gone after them both, he'd found Obito in time but it had been too late for Rin. She'd been beaten and raped before they got to her and in their escape they'd lost Obito. It had been his idea to use that broken down elevator. All he remembered was that sick feeling of falling and Rin's scream before he'd woken up in the hospital with a few broken or fractured bones and Obito's eye implanted instead of the one he'd lost, it wasn't a perfect transplant which had caused the eye to turn red but other than a slight vulnerability to light it worked fine. Kakashi didn't even know what had happened to Rin after that day, he'd never tried looking for her again.

And finally Kakashi had been sleeping in his apartment across the hall when Naruto's uncle had murdered his parents. He was supposed to have been there but he'd been tired after practice and wanted to lie down before he went over to play with Naruto on his birthday. He'd been trained to fight since he was a kid! He could have done something on that day if he'd just been there. Instead he'd been woken up by Naruto's screams and only arrived there in time to save Naruto. The sickening sound he'd heard when he'd smashed a chair on the man's head still echoed in his head even to this day. He didn't know if it had been the sound of the chair or the man's scull breaking or a combination of both and he wasn't sure he wished to know.

It had been his first kill. He didn't regret it, not for a single moment because the man had been getting ready to deal the final blow to Naruto with that knife and specially not now when he knew it had been the man's heart that really saved Naruto's life. But the feeling of that chair in his hands and the sound still lingered in the back of his mind, a constant reminder of the fact that if he'd only been there sooner he might have been able to save more lives.

"_You couldn't be there when I needed someone the most in my life!"_

Kakashi took a deep shuddering breath before he buried the pain. The Kakashi who had a right to feel anything had died the day he'd failed to save his father, any attempt to revive him had only resulted in more deaths or pain.

He got up off the couch and headed for the room he still had in the building. He hadn't used it after Tsunade had convinced him to take a break from Anbu; she'd said it would be good for him to leave it _all_ behind for a while. He'd go see her tomorrow about being re-instated, he'd been away long enough. Gai could take over his club at the school and Sarutobi could probably find someone else to take over the few classes he had. That life hadn't been meant for him anyway.

Kakashi didn't even bother looking at the elevator this time, there was no way he'd go into it in the mood he was in so he just headed for the stairs and trekked up the 20 floors to his room.

When he stepped out of the stairwell his heart missed a beat and his stomach did a weird flip. Naruto was standing outside the door to his rooms.

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Tsunade stepped forwards and punch in a floor number to get the elevator moving again, the floor she guessed Kakashi would be on right now. She'd done what she could; hopefully the two of them could work the rest out by themselves.

She looked back at Naruto, he was standing with his head bowed, his body slumped into the corner like it was too weak to hold him up.

When the elevator came to a stop she grabbed his upper arm and gently urged him out of the elevator. Before she let him go she made sure to catch his eyes. "He would have given up everything for you, probably still will. You're not the only one who's damaged Naruto, Kakashi has many demons he has to live with and if you want him to open up then you yourself have to open up to him." Tsunade pointed down the hall before the elevator doors closed. "5th door on the right. Just give him a chance to explain and if you still want to break the walls of my elevators and curse his name after he does then I'll gladly let you."

Naruto walked slowly towards the door she'd pointed out. He had no idea what he would say to the man now. He'd let his temper control him earlier and he'd said some very hurtful things without giving the man any chance to defend himself. He still wasn't happy about the deceit but now that he knew some of their past, now that he knew Kakashi's motives, most of his anger had left him.

While he stood there thinking about everything that had happened something Kakashi had said two days ago came back to him. When Naruto had asked him straight out what they were to each other Kakashi had told him that he wasn't playing with him, granted the man could have been lying but what he'd said next suggested otherwise.

_"I don't know where this is going and I can't promise you anything. I won't push you but if this is something you want then I certainly won't stand in your way or let you down if I can help it… You can... trust me on this. I will never intentionally hurt you." _

Kakashi hadn't pushed him to do anything that he didn't want, he'd let Naruto decide where their relationship would go, and he still remembered the hesitant tone Kakashi had used when he'd asked him to trust him not to hurt him. The man had known then that Naruto would find out eventually, which meant he'd either planned on telling him himself or at least be there for him when he found out.

He was still standing there on the verge of knocking and trying to come up with something to say when he heard shuffling behind him. When he turned around Kakashi was standing there, his body posture looked relaxed but now, not being blinded by anger, Naruto looked into his eye and saw just how much pain the man was trying to hide.

"Hey." Naruto finally managed in a quiet voice when the silence between them became deafening. It wasn't any of the profound words of apology or questions he'd been planning on asking the man but it was a start and it seemed to be enough for now because Kakashi exhaled slowly, a tremor so small you'd have missed it if you weren't paying attention passing over his body.

He reached up and rubbed his covered eye, the first sign of weakness because his hands were shaking noticeably, before he looked at Naruto like he didn't really believe he was there.

"Hey." He whispered back.

After a few more minutes of silence Kakashi reached around Naruto and opened his door. "Come inside… please." He added almost painfully. He stood and held the door open until Naruto stepped gingerly into the room, hesitating momentarily like he didn't really know what to do once there while Kakashi closed the door.

Kakashi pointed him towards a couch further inside the room, a small kitchen corner and living room combined, and waited for him to sit down before he perched on the coffee table opposite him.

Before Kakashi could speak again Naruto rushed in. "Look, I'm… sorry. I should have let you expl…"

"No." Kakashi cut him off. "You had every right to be angry… And I had no right to do that to you in the first place." His gaze fell on his fists that were clenched in his lap. "You don't have anything to apologize for."

Kakashi took a deep breath before he looked back up and met the blue eyes that were studying him. "I won't ask you to forgive me, I'm not sure my actions deserve it, but I'll answer all your questions, you must have at least some after all this. I swear I never lied to you, not directly, and I won't do so now."

Naruto paused for a moment before he smiled slightly. "What's your favorite color?"

Kakashi blinked in confusion. "What?"

"It was one of the first questions I ever really asked you and you never answered it truthfully."

Kakashi chuckled and rubbed his eye again, it might not have been the boy's intention but he relaxed for the first time in what seemed like ages. The tension leaking out of him like the breath he was exhaling.

"Well it's not orange I can tell you that." He said half teasingly. "And it's not black either even though I seem to dress in little else." Eventually he said quietly. "I like midnight blue and gray, reminds me of a calm night."

"How did you get the scar?" Naruto asked then almost in a whisper, like saying it louder would possibly hurt the man more.

Kakashi studied him with a thoughtful look in his eye.

"You're not going to ask about the mask?" He didn't ask how the boy knew about the scar, he had a feeling the answers were closely connected in any event and asking about the mask would have made more sense.

Naruto looked uncomfortable when he answered. "Tsunade cornered me in the elevator when I left. She… told me why you started wearing it."

"You really don't remember anything?"

"No. I only remember letting Atsushi, my uncle, in and then I only know what everyone's told me since." He looked up at the man opposite him. "No one ever mentioned you."

Kakashi shook his head slightly before he went on, he needed to know how much Tsunade had told him before he went on, he doubted she'd told Naruto the whole story but he could always hope the woman had decided to spare him the hard parts for once. "Did she tell you anything about how it ended… how your uncle died?" He asked, fixing Naruto with an intense look.

"No." Naruto said as he looked away from Kakashi's eyes. "She only told me that you'd staid with my family since you were 14 and… that you'd been willing to sacrifice everything to keep me after my parents died… and why you couldn't do it in the end." He looked back up at Kakashi then. "I'm really sorry for what I said. I didn't know."

"Shh, I told you. You have nothing to be sorry for." Kakashi stood up then and sat down next to Naruto, he wanted to be close to the boy when he told him this but he didn't want to force him to look at him while he did. This way the boy was free to look at something else if he wanted.

"I hit him over the head with a chair."

Naruto snapped his head around to look at Kakashi. "You… Did he…" Naruto motioned his left cheek where his uncle had carved the whisker marks into his own cheek.

Kakashi was silent for so long that Naruto began to worry, the look he finally got from the man didn't help either, and then Kakashi finally spoke again and his blood ran cold.

"No. When I hit him your uncle was just about to kill you, he didn't even see me coming, and he dropped the knife when I hit him."

Naruto flashed back to the same memory he'd had right before his panic attack earlier that day. He could almost feel the knife falling out of his hands as the paramedics picked him up.

He didn't realize he was gulping in air until he felt Kakashi's hand grip his and heard him call his name. He focused back on the gray eye looking at him in concern. "It was me." It wasn't a question, he didn't need to ask, and the answer was clearly written in Kakashi's eye. "Show me." He whispered.

"Naruto." Kakashi all but choked out.

"Please… I need to see it."

Kakashi made no move to remove either his mask or the bandanna but he closed his eye momentarily and then gave a slight nod of his head. Naruto hesitated and then moved closer so that he was kneeling on the couch next to Kakashi, leaning over him slightly. Then he reached up and removed the bandanna first. Kakashi's left eye was closed, making the scar running vertically over his eye look like a whole line, and when he opened it Naruto looked for the first time in a very long time into the mismatched eyes.

Before he went on to take the mask off he asked a question that had popped into his head at seeing the eyes. "Why did I call you Take-nii-san?"

Kakashi's eyes lit up momentarily with something acing to fondness and Naruto found that he couldn't look away.

"You were 4 when I came to live with you, you had nicknames for everything because you rarely bothered to say full words, I was 14 and full of rebellion and I very adamantly refused to be called Kashi the first time you tried. I didn't even try to discourage you when you immediately jumped on to Take from my last name, I was afraid you'd find something worse to call me." Kakashi laughed quietly then. "You used to call your mom Kushy when you were asked what her name was."

Naruto chuckled sadly while he changed his position on the couch to something more comfortable than leaning sideways in front of Kakashi. He didn't even notice that he was now straddling the man, it felt so natural. "I don't remember that." He said regretfully before he reached up and hooked his index fingers under the edge of the mask.

Kakashi stiffened momentarily, remembering the reason why he wore the mask in the first place, but Naruto hadn't even flinched when he saw his eyes so he pushed the urge to grab the mask and hold it in place down and let Naruto pull it off.

And then Naruto brushed his thumb over the scar on his cheek and he breathed out the air he didn't know he'd been holding in.

"Why did I do it?" He asked sadly.

Kakashi reached up and held Naruto's hand up against his cheek before he could pull it away, turning just slightly and kissing his palm before he held it against his cheek again. He never wanted Naruto to feel like he couldn't touch him there now that he'd started.

"You weren't yourself." Kakashi reassured him. "Once I'd pushed your uncle out of the way all I thought about was getting to you, looking back it was probably the best lesson I could have gotten about not lunging at someone who's just been under attack. All you saw was someone coming at you and you grabbed the knife that had dropped in front of you and swung it at me before I could dodge entirely. It was my own fault really as much as yours." Kakashi said truthfully. Naruto didn't quite believe that but Kakashi seemed to think so and therefore Naruto didn't feel as guilty about it as he would have.

Finally Naruto gave into the need to be closer to Kakashi and leant forwards and rested his head against the man's shoulder. "So what happens now?" He whispered when he found those strong arms circle his back and hold him close.

"Whatever you want." Kakashi breathed back. "I'll give you everything within my power to give, even if it means giving you my absence."

Naruto raised his head so he was level with Kakashi's face. "I'm not sure I could stand loosing you now." He said honestly before he leaned forward and kissed Kakashi for the first time on the lips.

And when Kakashi slid his tongue into his mouth Naruto felt he probably never could.

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**I got sick of calling Naruto's uncle "Naruto's uncle" or variations of "Him" so I named him Atsushi. It means Pure ambition and kind of fits him perfectly compared to the idea of him I have in my head at the moment. **

**Oh and next chapter will be the pure smut that follows this one. I was just too tired and pissed off at my internet (I barely managed to upload this chapter now because my internet works for five seconds and then goes out for about 1 min before it works for another 10 seconds..) to write it into this chapter XD so feel free to flame me with complaints or something about not getting it now… or just wait patiently for it to turn up in the next couple of days. **


	20. Chapter 18 and a half

Well if the earlier warning at the end of last chapter wasn't enough for you then THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS NOTHING BUT SMUT! Just wait patiently for the next one if you don't like it.

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Kakashi was taken slightly aback when Naruto had started kissing him. It was the first time the younger man had initiated anything between them and after the day they'd had the most physical contact Kakashi had been expecting from the boy was a punch in the face, not the press of those soft lips against his.

It started out incredibly sweet and slow, little chaste kisses with short pauses in between until Naruto got a little bolder, his lips started to stay a little longer with each kiss and move tentatively against his own. Kakashi really wanted to let Naruto have the lead, at least to begin with before he'd take over later on, but soon he started to find those innocent kisses almost torturous. He needed more, more touching, more kissing, more everything.

Next time Naruto's lips nibbled on his he slid his tongue out and licked slowly against the valley between them. When Naruto gave a little gasp and slid his hands up his neck to fist in his hair all thoughts of letting Naruto lead left his mind and with a half growl half moan his arms tightened around the small figure resting on his lap and he deepened the kiss almost forcefully.

Naruto was in heaven. There was no other way that he could describe the intense feeling of pleasure that was going through his body at the moment. He'd had just enough time to gasp in one last breath of air before he found his mouth being mapped out by Kakashi's tongue, each stroke against his own sending little thrills down his spine and straight into his groin. He tilted his head slightly to the side to give Kakashi better access to his mouth and moaned when the man responded by deepening the kiss even further. Naruto only broke away when the need for air had become almost unbearable.

Kakashi took a second to look into the younger man's face when they broke apart. Naruto's lips were swollen and his eyes were a little dazed and glazed over with lust. He smiled inwardly as he bent forward and nibbled along a smooth jaw line until his mouth found his prize. He nipped, licked and bit the earlobe playfully, loving the responses the attention was eliciting from the adorable blond, his breathing was becoming more and more erratic and his hips were starting to make involuntary thrusting motions over his thighs, desperately seeking some kind of contact that could help with the itch.

Kakashi grabbed a fist full of fabric from the boy's pants, hooking his thumbs through the belt hoops on each side, before he dragged him closer and thrust up at the same time, rubbing their straining erections together. Once, twice, before he stilled the movement and held him in place.

He looked back into those wonderful blue eyes and saw them half closed, the daze from before had been completely replaced by pure need and Kakashi actually smiled this time before he captured the blonde's mouth again.

"Tell me to stop." He breathed in between kisses. "Ask me to stop and I will." He wasn't sure he actually could stop at that point but he didn't want to force the boy into anything he'd regret later.

Naruto barely heard the words being spoken to him, the deep baritone voice only managed to turn him on even more. Reluctantly his brain eventually supplied him with the words but his body decided to ignore them, there was no way he wanted this to stop. He tried thrusting his hips against the other man again but those well toned and powerful hands hampered his movement and he nearly growled in frustration.

"Tell me now and I will."

Naruto grabbed the man's shoulders. He might not have control over the lower half of his body but Kakashi had both arms occupied so there was no way he could stop him from doing this. He pulled them closer together until their chests were flush up against each other before he responded.

"Don't you dare!" Was the only thing he ground out before he sank his teeth into the juncture between Kakashi's neck and left shoulder. He'd been trying to provoke a response from the seemingly stoic man but the one he got took him by surprise and he gave a rather indignant yelp when Kakashi suddenly flipped him on the couch so he was now lying under the man. The only warning he'd received had been a low growl. Looking up into the smoldering mismatched eyes above him he was momentarily reminded of a predator about to plunge in for the kill before Kakashi bent down and caught his mouth in another breathtaking kiss.

One hand still held his hips steady but the other one slid slowly under his training shirt and he moaned and arched into the warm palm as it slid over his stomach, sending electrical currents across his abdominal muscles.

He could feel the frustration he was causing Naruto by preventing him from rubbing himself off against him but Kakashi knew what it felt like to be young and inexperienced and he didn't want the blonde to come just yet, there was plenty of time to grant him as many orgasms as he could later and if he held him off longer the first one would only be more intense. For now he wanted to take his time and explore the quivering body underneath him and to do that some of these clothes would have to come off soon.

His fingers finally found what he'd been slowly reaching for and when they did he scratched lightly across the taut nipple before he pinched the nub lightly. He swallowed the quick moan Naruto released at the touch and the frustrated groan that soon followed when he prevented Naruto yet again from bucking his hips against him.

He broke the kiss and nibbled leisurely on the boy's neck before whispering huskily in his ear. "Take your shirt off."

Naruto untangled his fists out of the silver hair to comply and then arched into the older man's body when he assaulted his neck as soon as the shirt was out of the way. He was panting by the time that sinful mouth closed over one of his nipples but choked on his own breath when Kakashi trailed one of his scars with his tongue, the one his uncle had given him.

"Shhh." Kakashi placated the boy when he felt him tense up, he knew it had been a risk but Naruto needed to let go of the fear of his scars. He'd had a pretty good idea about why the boy had gotten that big tattoo on his stomach but there was no hiding the scars in a situation like this. Kakashi knew he wasn't one to talk really, they both had scars that reminded them of painful events in their pasts and he'd been covering up his own for 12 years now, but even though Kakashi avoided his own scars he'd come to accept them in his own way and they didn't frighten him like Naruto's scars frightened the boy.

"Kakashi." Naruto whimpered quietly and clutched his shoulders when the man licked over his scar again.

"Shh." Kakashi urged again as he planted little kisses along the scar crossing the one he'd just licked. "There is nothing evil in you. Nothing!" he emphasized as he looked up and caught the boy's eyes with a steady look. "This is the heart that loves your fathers and cares for your friends. It's the heart they cherish in return and the one I've longed to have a place in again for years. It's the heart of a man who protects his family, friends and those he cares about with everything he's got. The one who works hard to give other children the opportunities he missed." Kakashi kissed the scars again, never breaking eye contact with the boy, before he reached up and kissed him once again on the mouth. "How can a heart like that possibly be evil?" He whispered.

Naruto reached up hesitantly and ran his thumb over the scar on Kakashi's cheek, his eye's looking uncertainly into the mismatched eye's like he wanted to believe the words but the evidence against them was clearly showing on Kakashi's face.

Kakashi released the grip he had on Naruto's hip and caught his hand in his, resting his weight on the elbow of his other arm which lay against the boy's left side, his thumb slowly stroking over the scars.

He kissed the inside of Naruto's wrist. "Don't ever think I resent you for it." He said as he rubbed his cheek against the boy's palm. "I've never, ever resented you for it." He leaned down and kissed the boy's mouth again, slowly this time, almost delicately at first before he deepened the kiss. To distract the boy and to get him in the direction they were heading in before he thrust once very slowly against him, moaning with him when their cloth covered erections rubbed against each other.

Soon Naruto was panting under him again, one hand tugging urgently at his shirt. He took the hint, let go of Naruto's arm and barely broke the kiss as he swiftly undid the belt and threw off his judo jacket, only then realizing he was still wearing his martial arts uniform from their training earlier that day. When blunt fingernails dug into his upper back he answered by biting Naruto lightly on the neck and then using his tongue to sooth the pain.

The panting and small moans suddenly weren't enough. Kakashi wanted to feel the boy tremble in his arms, wanted to see him lose the little control he had and hear him scream as he came.

He moved slowly lower, nipping and licking a trail down from Naruto's neck, pausing momentarily to tease both nipples in turn before he moved even lower.

When Kakashi began tracing his tattoo with his tongue Naruto was afraid he'd come right then. One of his last coherent thoughts was not to grip Kakashi's hair for fear of ripping it out so instead he raised his arms up over his head and clutched at the arm rest of the sofa and then tried to picture something that would hopefully prevent him from embarrassing himself completely in front of this stunning man, but it was nearly impossible with the things he was doing to him and when Kakashi's tongue dipped into his belly button Naruto lost all train of thought.

Kakashi felt it more than saw it when the last traces of control left Naruto's body, the boy was close now and if Kakashi wanted to finish what he was hoping to do he'd have to move quickly. Reaching out with one arm he blindly opened a drawer on the coffee table in front of the couch and fumbled around in it, he knew he'd left a small tube of hand lotion in there at some point while he was still living in the apartment full time. Finally stumbling upon what he'd been looking for he placed the tube on top of the table for later use and then brought his hand back to finish unbuttoning and pulling down the pants his other hand had been working on and not wanting to waist even a second more than he had to he hooked his fingers into the elastic band of Naruto's boxers and pulled them off with the pants.

Naruto didn't even have a chance to suck in air once he felt his erection being freed before a hot mouth was covering it again, that sinfully talented tongue doing things to him he'd never even dreamed of. Therefore all he could do was give a strangled short moan before he was coming so hard he thought he'd never catch his breath again, his whole body tensed and trembled and his vision swam, his fist clutching the fabric on the armrest so tightly his knuckles turned white and he was surprised it didn't rip.

Kakashi barely let Naruto recover before he continued; he wanted the boy to be relaxed as much as he could for the next part. He nibbled on Naruto's thigh while he pulled of his own drawstring pants and boxers and then reached for the tube of lotion he'd found earlier. Looking up his breath caught in his throat. Naruto was looking down at him with half lidded eyes, his face flushed, hands trembling as he slowly let go of the headrest behind his head and his deep ragged breathing was making his chest rise and fall enticingly as his lungs fought for air.

"Alright?" Kakashi asked quietly as he kissed his way up the blonde's chest.

Naruto waited until Kakashi was close enough before he nodded weakly and then kissed him, wrapping his still trembling arms around the man's neck. He moaned deeply when he felt Kakashi's naked body press up against his and the man's hard member rubbing against the sensitive flesh of his spent cock. He wanted this man, wanted him so badly, he was almost craving the feel of that hard flesh in another part of him but asking for it was too embarrassing.

"Please." He moaned instead, hoping the older man would understand what he was asking for.

"Please what Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he nipped and sucked on his neck again. That husky voice should be illegal in Naruto's opinion; he could feel his blood start flowing towards his cock again just by listening to it.

"Please!" He breathed; wrapping one leg around one of Kakashi's in order to get even closer before he thrust up against the man. "Want you."

Kakashi moaned into the boy's neck when the words where all but whined into his ear and Naruto squirmed under him, the boy's cock was almost half hard again. It was all that he needed to hear and he certainly didn't need to be told twice either although the thought of Naruto begging some more was doing very interesting things to his libido. Hooking his left arm under the leg Naruto had used to pull him closer with he lifted the leg up further, using his right arm to snap open the lotion tube and squeeze some of the contents into his palm.

He watched the blonde hungrily as he reached down and slid his fingers along the crevice between the boy's firm cheeks; the sight of him alone was driving Kakashi insane. Naruto was panting and moaning uncontrollably and all Kakashi was doing was rubbing slowly over the puckered skin teasingly.

And then he was sliding one finger into that tight heat and he had to take a deep breath to restrain himself from replacing that finger with his cock right away when Naruto cried out, arching his back and digging his fingers into Kakashi's shoulders. He bit Naruto's neck roughly to distract him when he added the second finger. His own breathing was becoming ragged and to ease his own pain a bit he thrust his cock against the boy's now fully hard member, imitating the movement with his fingers as he stretched the boy.

When the third finger was added Naruto was ready to scream in frustration. He felt full, but not uncomfortably so, and yet there was just something missing. He wanted more, needed something he couldn't really name. And then Kakashi's fingers brushed against his prostrate and he saw stars.

"Do that again." He panted.

"What, this?" Kakashi drawled as he stroked over the same spot.

Naruto was going to reply with a yes but the word came out as a horrible squeak when Kakashi struck his prostrate point blank.

He wanted to protest when he felt the fingers being pulled out a few moments later but they were soon replaced by what he'd been craving so desperately. He looked down when he felt Kakashi push his legs further apart and watched as the head of the man's cock slowly slid into him. Thankfully the man wasn't as huge as his apparent ego was down there; the man's cock was however well in proportion to the rest of him. It was firm and long and a whole lot of other adjectives he'd name once his brain started working again.

"Breath." Kakashi reminded the boy, although he had trouble following his own advice when he slid a little deeper in. Sliding slowly into that heat was probably the best feeling he'd ever had and yet it was pure torture.

"Relax." He urged Naruto as he pulled out a little before slowly thrusting even deeper.

Naruto forced himself to breath and try to relax while Kakashi was sliding into him but it felt like forever until the man was fully in him and Naruto was too eager to relax much.

When Kakashi didn't move for some time after he was fully sheathed inside him Naruto squirmed impatiently. "Move." He demanded breathlessly.

"You're gonna be the death of me." Kakashi ground out through clenched teeth, he wanted the boy to get used to the feel of him before moving and it was taking every ounce of self restraint he had to not move. Naruto's demands were not helping.

"I'm gonna kill you if you don't _move_." Naruto growled at him, emphasizing his words by clenching his internal muscles.

Kakashi lost it. He buried his left hand in the boy's blonde hair and kissed him with such force that he wouldn't be surprised if his tongue would be bruised in the morning. He did a few shallow thrusts before he pulled further out and then plunged swiftly in aiming for the younger man's prostrate.

"Careful what you wish for." He taunted the boy huskily against his lips as Naruto cried out at the impact. Naruto's only responses were more moans and gasps as Kakashi continued to rub against that spot with every thrust he made.

He went back to teasing the boy's neck with his teeth and tongue, occasionally nibbling on his earlobe, the taste of that smooth skin was addictive and the way Naruto subconsciously tilted his head back to give him better access sparked something very possessive in Kakashi.

Kakashi had held himself off for too long and soon he could feel the tension coiling in his abdomen. He reached down with his right hand and, gripping Naruto's erection firmly, started to pump it in time with his thrusts.

Forget any earlier declarations he had made. _This_ was heaven was Naruto's last coherent thought as he came a second time with a loud cry.

When Naruto's muscles contracted and trembled and he felt the heat of his cum on his fingers Kakashi let go of the last strands of his self control, biting the boy's shoulder to stifle his own cry as he came, slowly thrusting and pumping every last drop of himself into that tight heat before even the smallest movements became too much for his now over sensitive cock.

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This took me 2 whole days and a lot of aggravation to write so please be kind in your reviews '-_-

As much as I like it I've found that writing smut is actually a lot harder than I thought and this is my first attempt at it…


	21. Chapter 19

Itachi sat in his grand office admiring the view from his position at his desk. His fingers were perched together as he rested his elbows on the smooth surface and the red eyes were glaring slightly at nothing in particular as his genius mind ran over all the information he now possessed on a certain problem.

Granted his "grand" office was a small break room at the back of his tattoo parlor, the desk he sat at was not an antique mahogany one but a small kitchen table that functioned as both a desk and a dining table and the view he was currently admiring was the brick wall he could see outside of the small window, someone had spray painted a new picture over the one that had previously occupied that space.

But, Itachi had never had any intention of ever owning, or even staying in, what his father deemed a "grand" office anyway. He took sick pleasure in knowing that his work space was one his father would develop an eye twitch over, because Fugaku Uchiha would certainly _never_ show enough emotion to grimace in disgust. Not that his father would ever even come to the neighborhood his small company was located in let alone the place itself.

Usually Itachi barely even thought about his father these days, not surprising after his upbringing and then his disownment, but recently he'd been hearing some rumors that didn't sit well with him and the news he'd just received that morning made it quite clear that he would have to keep a closer eye on his father's personal movements than he had been doing until now.

Itachi might not be interested in taking over the family firm or ever reconciling with his parents but as much as he hated them for the way they had treated him he'd never hated his little brother and it was Sasuke's dream to take over the Uchiha empire and make it his own one day, so Itachi would make damn sure that his father wouldn't do anything stupid to jeopardize that dream.

He often wondered if his father would smirk with such pride if he knew that the company he owned and was the president of was in fact run secretly from the shadows by none other than the son he had cast out when he found he could no longer control him. Itachi had connections and spies all over his father's precious company and with only one phone call the 'lost son' could influence ideas, change plans and squash unwanted deals, all from the little break room he liked to call his office.

What concerned him now… well, annoyed him really since Itachi rarely cared enough about anything for it to concern him… was the fact that his father had seemed to have acquired a new business partner. A business partner who he conducted business with personally rather than through the company, making it damn near impossible for Itachi to influence their dealings or even know what they were working on.

Now normally the disowned Uchiha wouldn't have cared one iota about what his father did in his personal life, his father could buy bananas from monkeys for all he cared if he didn't involve the company Itachi was protecting for his younger brother in the dealings.

But when the person his estranged father was associating with was Orochimaru even a reputed cold hearted bastard like Itachi would damn well make it his business to care about what was going on. Because, although no one had ever been able to pin anything on him, the snake faced bastard was never connected to anything good. He had the potential to cause trouble for certain… friends… of his and Itachi also didn't want the slimeball anywhere _near_ his little brother.

Red eyes glanced up from the graffiti on the wall to look at the clock ticking away over the table. _Should be about time_. He thought before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his cellphone.

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Sasuke had just gotten into his car when the cellphone started vibrating in the glove compartment. After reaching for it and looking at the caller ID he had to fight the urge to look around like a paranoid meerkat out of its hole for any sight of the caller, it wasn't so much the fact that Uchiha's never showed any type of fear as it was the fact that there was no way in _hell_ that his brother could actually be there watching him that stopped him from doing it. Instead the quiet boy simply glared at his phone and wondered, not for the first time, how his brother always managed to call him when he was alone and no-one, namely their parents, could see or overhear him.

Finally realizing that his brother probably couldn't feel his death glare through the unanswered call Sasuke hit the answer button and pressed the cell to his ear. "What?" was the first thing he said in a rather hard tone.

"Foolish little brother, is that any way to greet your elders." Itachi's voice droned rather monotonously through the line, although knowing his brother as well as he did Sasuke was able to hear the slight humor in it as well.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, something he'd never dream of doing in front of his father… or anyone else for that matter… but something he did quite often when alone with his thoughts and especially when talking to his brother, before he answered in a sweetly fake voice. "Well hello there my _dear_ older brother. What can I do for you today? You _do_ know that due to the restraining order our lovely old Papa had placed on you you're not allowed to contact me or any other Uchiha in anyway don't you?"

Itachi smirked as he leaned back in his chair. "And yet you still pick up the phone every time I call you for our weekly chat."

The younger Uchiha snorted as he put his car in drive and sped out of the round driveway in front of the mansion, no one could see him talking on his cell through the tinted windows on his car but there were eyes on him everywhere he went that had the nasty tendency to report any unacceptable behavior to his father and kami forbid he'd actually get scolded for pausing too long inside his car before taking off. He also had no intention of being late to meeting his father and his new associate for lunch because his brother wanted to chat.

Unlike Itachi he was going to take every beating, every oppression, threat, blackmail, manipulation or invasion of privacy his father could force on him until he could rip the company from his cold cruel hands and then use that very same company his father was so infinitely proud of to completely and utterly _crush_ him.

Sasuke Hn'd in response before he continued. "Well personally I'm just hoping that father finds this phone and then has you arrested for breaking the restraining order."

Of course Sasuke had no such hopes, the phone he was on now was one that was kept in his car at all times when he was at home or anywhere near anything remotely Uchiha related and it was registered to Juugo just in case someone ever found it and looked into it. He used it for most of his personal calls that he didn't want his father to know about since Sasuke's _personal_ cellphone was strictly monitored by his dictator of a father. He could only imagine what would happen if the man found out that he spoke to his brother at least once a week.

He very purposely cut off the car coming down the street when he drove outside the gates, there was just no way he was going to get stuck behind the old hag driving it for who knew how long.

Sasuke could vividly picture one elegant eyebrow raise with the reply he got. "And I suppose you coming to see me at least once a month is another way for you to put me in jail?"

Sasuke gripped the steering wheel tighter and his eyes hardened for a moment, he just barely fought of the urge to grind his teeth since it only worked to increase the stress headache he seemed to develop every single day. It hadn't been enough for their dear old dad to just kick Itachi out and legally remove him from anything Uchiha, Fugaku had actually gone as far as getting a 'no contact' restraining order against his _former_ son that strictly forbade him from having any kind of contact with all of his extended family plus a few key people in the main company. Probably his way of making sure that Itachi couldn't influence Sasuke, the brothers had always been close in their own special 'I only marginally tolerate you because you are blood related' kind of way and their father certainly wouldn't want his second son to stop taking orders from him and start developing his own ideas like the first one had.

This time Sasuke couldn't fight the urge and he ground his teeth extra hard together. He couldn't wait for the time when he'd personally destroy his father for what he had done to both him and his brother.

He didn't dignify his brother's question with a response. Itachi knew that wasn't the reason Sasuke visited him at least once a month and talked to him at least once a week and Sasuke knew that Itachi knew this so there was no reason for him to do something so un-Uchiha like as to actually admit to his feelings or explain himself to his brother.

Instead he slowly worked to loosen his jaw as he ground out his initial inquiry to Itachi's call. "What do you want?"

Itachi smirked, he'd love to rile his brother up further by saying something along the lines of not needing a reason to call his baby brother but he actually _did_ have a very valid reason for calling him and riling his brother up while he wasn't actually in the same room just wasn't as much fun, he wouldn't be able to see his brother grind his teeth and then roll his head slightly back and forth when he thought no-one would notice to try to ease the tension headache he'd brought on.

"I hear you have a lunch meeting with a new client."

Sasuke didn't even want to know anymore how his brother found out what his day to day schedule was, for all he knew his brother could have miniature video cameras and listening devises attached to the crows that sat on the ledges on Uchiha Inc's main office building, it was just a fact by now that no matter how much his schedule changed or how private he was with his activities his brother seemed to know about things that even their father didn't know Sasuke was up to.

Of course the younger Uchiha had no way of knowing that a certain silver haired teacher at his school was in fact an extensively trained Anbu member who often saw a reason to update Itachi on just what his brother was doing at school. Not because Itachi had asked him to, because even though he wasn't legally an Uchiha anymore Itachi had still been raised as one and as such he would _never_ do something so normal as to ask how his brother was doing at school and he'd certainly also _never_ ask someone straight out to spy for him either. Therefore Itachi would simply sit calmly and not _really_ pay much more than the barest minimum of attention to Kakashi when he came in most Fridays, and sometimes other days as well if something big happened, to quite casually mention what his brother had been doing that week.

Sasuke did however rightfully suspect his brother of having moles in his father's company but those could be useful to him later on when he took over so he didn't really care if the whole enterprise was filled with them. The more the merrier he thought.

So, instead of demanding to know how his brother knew his schedule yet again and for lack of anything better to reply with Sasuke settled for the Uchiha trademarked "Hn" as he straightened his tie and then made sure his hair was still in place, he really did need to remember to have it cut since it was getting a bit long for the style he favored.

Itachi's smirk took on a positively evil twist. "What's that little brother? Speak up if you have something to say."

He thought he could almost hear his brother's teeth chiseling each other off before the younger man spoke.

"Yes, I have a lunch meeting with a new client! Now are you going to tell me what it is you want before I actually get to the meeting?"

If anyone could have seen both Uchiha boys at that moment they certainly would have known they were brothers. One had just sat back in his chair and started drumming his fingers on the table, a hard unreadable look on his face that didn't bode well for whomever it was that was causing it, and the other leaning back in his car seat drumming his fingers on the steering wheel with an almost identical look on his face, although in his case the cause for said look was on the other end of the line and wouldn't have so much as batted an eyelash if he'd seen it.

"Don't let Orochimaru fool you Sasuke. He might seem charming and he might be able to offer you everything you need and more but the price you'll have to pay for them are much too high, and believe me you will pay, one way or the other. They don't call him the viper just because of his looks."

Before Sasuke could answer he heard the tell tale beeping sound indicating his brother had hung up. He didn't have much time to dwell on what his brother had just told him since he'd just arrived at the restaurant where the meeting was taking place. Yet another creepy thing his brother was known for doing, Itachi always hung up just before Sasuke arrived anywhere near his father like the older Uchiha boy was actually timing his trips or something.

Sasuke did however come to one conclusion, if his brother had called him specifically to warn him against this guy and had even gone so far as to call him Sasuke while doing it, something his brother very rarely did since he was much fonder of riling him up by using _little brother_ or some such nicknames, then this Orochimaru bloke was not to be trusted.

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_Kakashi was facing a dilemma._

Naruto woke up around 10 Sunday morning, he could fleetingly remember a nightmare but it hadn't been strong enough for him to remember it or to have been affected by it so he wondered idly why he'd been woken up so early on a weekend. That was when he realized the warm pillow he was currently holding was breathing, at least judging from the rise and fall of it and the air systematically blowing against his hair.

Kakashi had been enjoying watching the boy sleep when he finally stirred, he watched him slowly blink the sleep out of his eyes before he looked up. Kakashi wasn't sure he liked the look of surprise he saw on the boy's face when their eyes met.

"Hey." The boy croaked sleepily.

"Hey." Kakashi answered back with a hint of a question in his tone.

Naruto rubbed his eyes in such an adorable way that Kakashi felt positively perverted to be snuggling up to him naked when the boy reminded him of his 5 year old self.

"I just…" the blond began hesitantly. "Dunno… kind of thought you might have left by now or something." He said while staring intently at one of Kakashi's nipples that was showing above the blanket that the older man had taken from the back of the couch and draped over them, like it held all the answers of the universe.

"Mmhmm." Kakashi hummed as he trailed one hand slowly up and down Naruto's back. "Well this is my place…" He droned lazily.

Kakashi sighed when he felt the boy tense up in his arms, as understandable as it could be, it was completely unfair that such a nice and good looking boy like Naruto had been treated so badly for so long that he continually felt like he wasn't good enough or that no one could ever want him.

"Oh… er… well."

Before the squirming boy in his arms could form a clear thought in his mind, that would probably by the sound of things be completely wrong, Kakashi tightened his hold on the boy and nuzzled his hair. Eventually he spoke again in a calm voice.

"If it had been anyone else and I really had wanted them gone I would have kicked them out afterward. You, on the other hand, mean a lot more to me than that and if I honestly wouldn't have wanted you the day after we wouldn't have had the night before either."

Naruto gasped as a hand slid languidly down his back as Kakashi spoke, eventually settling over his ass. A thumb stroked one cheek slowly, the other fingers stopping tantalizingly at the very edge of the cleft between the globes.

And as Kakashi slowly rubbed their half hard members together and nibbled on his ear Naruto almost didn't hear him mumble "I don't think we have to worry about that."

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_A very hard dilemma in fact._

Kakashi watched Naruto pace back and forth in his living room talking to his dads on the phone, it was a very comical sight and under normal circumstances Kakashi probably would have wondered how the three guys managed talking and listening to each other all at once but right now Kakashi was way too busy thinking about other things.

After rubbing off on each other earlier that morning they had both taken a shower only to realize that Naruto didn't have any clothes to wear afterward, the workout clothes from the day before smelled of sweat and parts of them really hadn't escaped last night's activities judging by some obvious stains. Therefore Kakashi had had to loan Naruto some old clothes he still had at the apartment.

Which consequently lead to Kakashi's dilemma.

There was just something way too appealing about Naruto wearing his clothes. The shirt was too long and both the sleeves and the pant legs had to be folded up in order for him to wear them but Kakashi honestly couldn't get enough of looking at Naruto wearing his clothes. He really wanted nothing more than to take the phone away from him, carry him to his bed, strip him and do a very good rendition of chapter 34 of his favorite Itcha Itcha book but doing so really did cause a problem. Because Kakashi honestly couldn't bring himself to strip the boy out of the clothes he was wearing.

Therefore Kakashi had one huge dilemma on his hands that his genius mind was going back and forth trying to solve while the object of said obsessing was obliviously enticing him even more by talking animatedly on the phone, pausing to stretch a kink out of his back, pouting at something one of his dads had said or smiling at something else.

The boy's even wearing my underwear, ran through Kakashi's head as he toweled his gravity defying hair and kept watching his lover. His lover, that sounded almost too good to be true.

"Well that disproves that theory."

"Hmm?" Kakashi moved the towel away from his face to see Naruto standing in front of him, the boy having finished his phone call while he was lost in thought.

"Oh, the guys at the club were just coming up with some ideas about how you got your hair that way and Kiba thought you probably dried it with a wool towel or something... you know, the static electricity and all that."

"Really? What else do you guys speculate about while we're not around?" Because Kakashi hadn't put on his mask yet Naruto saw for the first time that when Kakashi's eyebrow rose the other didn't rise with it. The man could be really expressive usually but seeing his whole face like this was definitely an eye opener and if Naruto had thought he was sexy with the mask? Well then Kakashi was hotter than molten lava without it.

"Everything really, but the most popular ones are about your hair and when and why Gai started wearing that spandex suit."

Naruto's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Kakashi choked on his own spit and averted his eyes. "Oh no you didn't?" He accused the older man incredulously.

Kakashi chuckled quietly and shook his head as he relived that moment of his teenage years. "All I did was tell him that if he wore it during training he'd definitely get better, it's not my fault the guy actually won his next match."

"And the orange leg warmers?"

"Oh you can blame Genma and his old friends entirely for that one." Kakashi said as he stood up and walked into the bathroom to put the towel away. "They thought it would be a great gag gift but _apparently_ Gai doesn't really understand that kind of humor..."

Naruto used the opportunity of being alone to sniff the shirt he was wearing, only half listening to Kakashi's muffled voice from the other room. Even though he'd said he hadn't worn them in a long time the clothes still smelled like Kakashi and for some reason Naruto found it incredibly comforting to wear the mans clothes, like he was wrapped up in the man himself.

He wondered if this was how he had felt with the man when he was younger, and if so how he could have ever forgotten him.

But no matter, they had plenty of time now to catch up. For now Naruto was going home to his fathers, where he'd have some serious explaining to do if he knew Iruka correctly, while Kakashi went back to the club and then tomorrow Naruto, his dads and Kakashi had a meeting with Tsunade about, according to her, an important matter that had to be dealt with now that he'd reached eighteen.

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Kakashi's good day came to an end when he came home that night and found Itachi sitting in the darkness of his room. Now Kakashi didn't scare easily but if the sight of the younger man sitting there in the darkness hadn't spooked him out enough then the news he came bearing sure did.

Apparently Itachi's younger brother had had a very interesting meeting that day, a meeting with none other than the Viper himself...

A meeting where the younger Uchiha had been asked seemingly innocent questions about his school and his friends there and where one name in particular had seemed to come up more than once.

The name Uzumaki Naruto.

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**That's it for now... thanks for reading so far :P Sadly this story will be coming to a close soon -ducks behind the desk in case any cabbages come flying- but on a brighter note, after I finish this one I'll start working on Savior again while I try to finish some of my other stories on here too. **

**And yeah yeah, I know this chapter is really short and all compared to recent ones but when this story started out the chapters where actually shorter than this and this one is basically just a bridge to connect the last few chapters to the next ones...you really should just be glad to get an update right -please don't hurt me-  
**


	22. Chapter 20

**Well... I was going to write this whole chapter all in one go and then post it all here but when I reached page 32 in Word and still had no end in sight I decided to break it into 2 chapters. If anyone here has been looking at my live journal site or twitter they've probably seen me ramble on about why I didn't want to creak it up but since I'm well passed the "major" cliffhanger point in this chapter I don't think it's going to be that huge of a deal if I post this part now. **

**A fair warning though! I'll have to start working on my thesis in a few days and when I do I will have very little time to write this story so there might be a long wait for the next chapter. Along with that I also have to find a job in January and take care of a lot of stuff and hopefully start working so after that I will have even less time to work on this story if I'll even have any time at all. **

**I would like to stress! that if at any time you feel like I haven't updated in a long time that you go to my live journal (the link is on my profile) and see what's going on. Posts connected to specific stories are tagged with the name of the story so they should be relatively easy to find. I post news about my stories there along with random things from my day today life. So instead of reviewing on here why the hell it's taking me so long to update on here you might want to check it out and see for yourself just why I'm not doing it. Also I might just be nice and post sneak previews from chapters or other stuff there connected to my stories.  
**

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Sasuke calmly turned off the alarm clock when it started ringing. He wasn't a morning person by any means but once he was awake he was awake so there was no point staying in bed any longer, plus his pride just didn't allow him to do something as undignified as snoozing in bed longer than necessary or stumbling around like a zombie once out of bed.

Therefore he just slid stoically out from under his satin sheets and walked naked as the day he was born into his adjoining bathroom and took a long hot shower. It was one of the very rare indulgences he allowed himself since, as far as he knew, his father hadn't stooped so low as to spy on him in his room... yet.

After his shower he got dressed in form fitting black jeans and a blue T-shirt with another black long sleeved one underneath before he donned a dark blue cotton shirt over the others. His father wouldn't let him out of the house in anything that wouldn't look suitable for a board meeting and not wanting to _disappoint_ his dear old dad too much Sasuke acted like the perfect son in front of his father but as soon as he was out of the gates of hell, a.k.a. The front door, and into his car he would look as presentable and distinguished as he could before he'd rip the stupid shirt off. If he wasn't still wearing them now Sasuke would have figured his brother started wearing gothic clothes just to piss Fugaku off, although knowing his brother he might just still be wearing them to rub salt in the wounds so to speak. He really wished he had the same freedom his brother had gotten but it was just the price he had to pay in order to reach his goals, and his brother hadn't exactly escaped the separation unscathed.

Sasuke grabbed his backpack on his way out into the hall where he threaded the maze like hallways towards the front of the house. Even though the place was always kept bright and clean it still reminded him of a mausoleum, it was _too_ perfect. He was pretty sure they'd even had the exact same flower arrangements in the hall room table vases when he was little. He didn't know how often a week they were changed, all he knew was that they weren't fake and that they were always fresh. It was like this with many other things in the house as well, the house was kept obsessively clean even though you never saw anyone cleaning it; his mother would probably have a fit if she needed to be in the same room as the _lower class_. His mother wasn't nearly as bad as his father though since she did actually have feelings, the problem was just that she seemed to have overly much of them towards his father and would therefore turn a complete blind eye to almost anything he did. Sasuke still felt like laughing out loud whenever he remembered his mother telling him his father loved him. His father had barely tolerated his existence until he had to after his brother left.

"An heir and a spare." Sasuke mused to himself, remembering the line from some book they'd once had to read for English class. That's all he was really if he thought about it, just a spare tool his father had jumped on after he broke the first one.

And to think he'd actually envied the attention his older brother used to get from their father.

When he got closer to his father's study he could hear raised voices, well one shouting and the other one barely audible since his father was incapable of showing enough emotion to actually raise his voice an octave.

"… We didn't buy that cabin so you could just lend it to everyone you do business with!" His mother's voice rang out.

"No, as I recall we bought that cabin for tax reasons." His father's voice sounded disinterested at best. He was probably reading over some papers and only half listening to his mother like usual. The only time Fugaku showed any interest in other people was when he was doing business with them and he only showed his family interest or any hint of affection if it benefitted him in some way. For example, the only time Sasuke had ever heard his father say he loved his mother was when he was trying to impress an old business lady he was hoping to make a deal with.

"We might as well use it for something useful." His father continued.

"You know very well that I have a delicate complexion and the country just doesn't agree with me."

Sasuke didn't even try to suppress the eye-roll over that statement. His mother had absolutely no problem going to _the country_ for spa treatments or to visit one of her friends' country home, the only trouble with the cabin they'd bought was that it was situated on farm land instead of one of those _posh_ areas where rich people built cabins or houses in order to _get away from it all, _which actually just meant that all they did was move their office slightly out of town while their spouses held tea parties or some shit. His parents actually had a place like that as well so Sasuke didn't understand why on earth his mother felt the need to complain, but then again she loved doing it so it wasn't all that surprising.

Deciding he didn't want to get stuck in the hallway for an hour or so Sasuke stepped into the study before his mother could get on a roll.

"I just don't like the look of hi…" His mother turned around when she heard him come in. "Oh, Sasuke dear."

"Mother." He said politely as he air-kissed her cheeks. "Sir." He nodded respectfully towards his dad; it was an act he'd nearly perfected. "I'll be going now." He said before he headed back to the hall. There really was no point to this interaction but his parents were adamant that he bid them goodbye when he left for school.

His father called after him to remind him of a board meeting he had to attend to with him later that day.

When he was finally in his car and out of the house gates Sasuke ripped off his shirt and breathed a sigh of relief while he daydreamed about all the ways he could, and would, thwart his father in the most spectacular way possible… preferably with as much damage to his ego and honor as Sasuke could manage. He didn't care if undressing under the wheel caused danger to himself or others, if he couldn't distance himself from anything that was connected to his father when he wasn't in his presence he'd end up like one of those emo shitheads who shot down their school.

x.x.x.x.x

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"Naruto!"

"YAHHHHHHhhhh…." Naruto woke up flailing and screaming until he realized that the death grip he was in was actually Iruka shaking him awake.

"Did you just have a nightmare?" His father asked with concern.

"Nndon't think so." Naruto mumbled into his hands as he rubbed his face. He didn't know if he'd dreamt or not, he felt like he had heard voices shouting but it was like seeing something at the corner off your eye, when he tried to examine it, it disappeared.

"Well you're about to." Genma said from the door. He'd come pounding up the stairs when he heard the yell but everything looked ok now so he reverted back from 'panicking dad' to his normal self.

"Hnnn?" Which, from Naruto in the morning was equivalent to _Pardon my good sir, I couldn't quite hear you so would you terribly mind repeating that for me?_

"Your alarm clock's been ringing for about 15 minutes and Kiba's probably been driving the neighbors nuts with his honking by now." Genma informed him with the air of someone who thoroughly enjoys it when other people are screwed. Iruka was by then busy ripping the sheets off of Naruto while still watching his face for any hint of him lying about not having a nightmare.

"Shiiiiiiiiiiit." Naruto wailed as he jumped out of bed.

"Naruto! Language." Iruka grumbled absentmindedly as he now started making the boy's bed.

"But I'm gonna be laaaaate." Genma jumped to the side as his son barreled passed him and down the hall towards the bathroom.

Genma looked at Iruka and tried very hard not to burst out laughing, he knew Iruka could clearly see it in his twinkling eyes but he mainly didn't want Naruto to hear him because he didn't exactly want to be punched or worse in Naruto's panic. Unlike Naruto and Iruka he'd never been much into martial arts, not that he didn't know anything about violence but his knowledge of street fights usually didn't hold a candle to people with black belts.

Iruka gave him a fond yet admonishing look. "Oh behave you!" He said as he put the finishing touches on Naruto's bed and then sat down on it; if his leg hadn't been broken he'd have started picking up the dirty clothes from the floor too.

Soon the toilet flushed and Naruto's gargled voice called back as he tried brushing his teeth and talking at the same time. "Mm nnt eheh rehhe foh schoow."

Genma raised one eyebrow at Iruka before he called back. "And in English that would be what?"

Naruto came barreling back into the room in his boxers and started rummaging through the scattered clothing. "I'm not even ready for school!"

This time Genma did chuckle a little until he saw the warning look Iruka was shooting him over Naruto's head. "Not that sweater Naruto, it hasn't been washed for about a week!" The younger man said before he hobbled over to the closet.

Genma sighed before he grabbed Naruto's bag and, looking at the timetable hung above his desk, started hunting down the things his scatterbrain of a son needed for the day. But before that he sent Iruka a dirty look before glancing meaningfully down at his leg. Even though the break hadn't been as bad as they first thought his leg was still in a cast and he had been advised to use the crutches he'd been given before but Iruka, who could be even more active than Naruto, had started forgoing his crutches and just limping around instead. Genma didn't like it because he thought it would take longer for him to heal that way.

Once Naruto was finally dressed, in clothes that Iruka had helped him find, he and Genma jogged down the stairs and while Naruto hurriedly struggled into a coat and tried to tie his shoelaces at the same time, which was pretty much impossible in Genma's opinion but who was he to try to tell that to someone like Naruto, his dad grabbed the lunch Iruka had made earlier and stuffed it in his backpack, which he had to call Naruto back for because the panicking boy had run out the door without it.

"Have a good one!" He called after Naruto and waved to his friends before they drove off. Kiba who'd come to their house earlier had decided to drive and get the other two boys while Naruto was getting up.

Genma closed the door, shaking his head in good humor. Turning away from it he came face to face with Iruka who'd come down the stairs during all the commotion. He reached out and pulled the shorter man into a hug. "I don't know what he would do without us." He mumbled into his boyfriend's hair.

Iruka hugged him back and in a low voice said. "I'm not sure what we would ever do without him."

x.x.x.x.x

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"Hey Blondie, what's the deal? You're even later than Shikamaru now." Kiba said as he indicated the boy dozing off in the back. "Did my kick cause that much damage?"

Naruto glared at Kiba for a second before he turned his eyes back to the road and the ever changing scenery. "You wish. I had a rough weekend that's all." He mumbled with finality. Indicating that he did not want to talk about what had happened at the training camp.

Kiba took the hint; Naruto had probably had a very long talk with Iruka anyway so there was no need for Kiba to keep pestering him about the matter. If Naruto didn't want to talk to him about it then Kiba wasn't going to push.

He quickly searched for something to lighten the mood. Not finding anything worthwhile to talk about and knowing that his friend was probably not in the mood to listen to him ramble about the latest anime show he was watching he eventually just reverted back to what he was best at, teasing Naruto.

"Oh? So did you and Kakashi have a little _sparring match_ on his bed after he kidnapped you?"

Kiba stopped chuckling and looked over at his friend when the comment was not met by the usual outburst. When he noticed his friends beat red face and the way he tried to subtly squirm in his seat he nearly swerved off the road.

"WHAT? Oh my GOD! He DID!" He cried as he tried to right the car and stare at his best friend at the same time.

Naruto sunk even lower in his seat when Chouji's face came into view over the car seats. "Who did what now?" He asked as he looked between Kiba, who was still struggling to drive while getting over the shock, and Naruto, who now had his face in his hands and looked like he'd really rather drive into a tree than to have this conversation.

"Watch the road." Chouji said helpfully before he repeated his previous question.

"He did? He really did?" Kiba kept repeating like someone had just told him Sasuke had arrived at school wearing a prom dress.

"YES! Ok. It happened!" Naruto finally cried. "And for your information it was the sofa actually!"

Chouji was even more confused now. So confused in fact that he completely forgot the bag of chips he held in his hands. He glanced back to the rear of the car. "Do you know what they're talking about?" He asked Shikamaru, who'd woken up with a face full of window when the car swerved.

"How the hell should I know?" He moaned as he rubbed his face. "God why does everyone have to be so troublesome in the morning?"

"Oh my god!" Kiba said for probably the tenth time in a horrifyingly good imitation of Gai. "I can't believe my little baby is finally a man! Let me hug you…"

"Watch the road!" Naruto and Chouji both cried when Kiba let go of the wheel.

Shikamaru was too busy preventing himself from getting reacquainted with the window to say anything at that moment but as soon as he'd regained his balance he growled. "What the hell is going on up there?"

Naruto was smart enough to grab the wheel as Kiba turned around in his seat and hollered into the back of the car. "Naruto lost his innocence to the Pervert sensei!"

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Needless to say Naruto was not in a great mood when he arrived at school. After Kiba's declaration he'd been the subject of a lot of teasing and cat calls from his friends for the rest of the trip. He knew they all meant well and were happy for him but it had still been embarrassing as hell. He could joke and talk about sex like any other guy but it was a bit different to talk about sex in general than to talk about your own personal experience.

It also hadn't helped that he had been, and still was, nervous as shit about how to behave around Kakashi at club later today. He definitely wasn't going to run into his arms and kiss him or anything, and he really hoped Kakashi wasn't planning on doing anything like that either, but was he expected to pretend like nothing happened? And if so could he do it? What if Kakashi had changed his mind? People usually freaked or didn't know how to act around him after witnessing some of his minor episodes and his episode this weekend hadn't exactly been minor. Maybe Kakashi had decided that he wasn't worth the trouble. Sure the man had known him when he was a child and had apparently regretted not being a part of his life after that but even though his memory was screwed up he knew enough to say that there was a vast difference in the person he was now than the person he'd been as a kid. What if Kakashi realized how fucked up he'd become and decided he wasn't worth the troub…

"Man, is he still following you around? How troublesome." Shikamaru's low voice startled him out of his dark thoughts.

"Huh?" Naruto glanced up in the direction his friend was looking and noticed Sasuke standing in the hallway up ahead. The raven haired boy was leaning casually against the worn down gray-blue lockers like he was waiting for someone. Everyone else would probably think the stoic boy was waiting for his entourage but Shikamaru had obviously made the correct assumption because, although he looked indifferent like always, Sasuke was watching them like a hawk.

"Oh for fucks sake." Naruto breathed out with a sigh. "I've had just about enough of this."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at him but held back on his customary phrase, although Naruto could pretty much hear the "troublesome" broadcasting loud and clear from his look.

Naruto ignored the silent warning. "I'll see you in class." He said as he made his way over to his weird stalker.

"Yeah, yeah." Shikamaru walked off with a half wave over his shoulder.

When he reached him Sasuke just kept looking at him until Naruto finally gave up and with an exasperated grunt he threw his hands up in the air before glaring at his long time rival.

"What the hell do you want?"

"We need to talk." Sasuke said as he glanced at some students milling around on their way to class. It was still a few minutes before rush hour would hit the hallways but he'd rather not have this conversation in the hallway even though he'd started this whole _friendship_ ruse partly to discourage people from approaching him.

It really was a great idea, Naruto wouldn't be bothered by anyone trying to get on Sasuke's good side by picking on the blond and Naruto's presence near him was like having an invisible shield designed specifically to keep out unwanted fan-girls or annoying social climbers. Too bad the other boy didn't seem to think it was such a grand idea as Naruto had been fighting him from the start which was kind of putting a damper on the 'best buds' image Sasuke was trying to portray. Although it didn't really matter, they'd been proclaimed enemies since grade school and the rivalry had become well known mere weeks after they'd started school here and yet no one seemed to think it odd that they were suddenly hanging out.

_Idiots, the lot of them!_ Sasuke thought. Unlike what most people believed he'd gotten sick of his mindless followers years ago, it was just one of the things he had to endure because of his father.

"Talk?" Naruto put on a shocked expression. "You mean you can actually string together enough words to have a whole conversation?"

Sasuke nearly smiled at the sarcasm, just nearly. "Funny aren't you." He said before he grabbed Naruto's bicep, leading him out into the stairwell and then down into the unpopulated basement floor. It wouldn't be used until later in the day for some of the clubs.

"Right, now you're just crossing the line over to psycho." Naruto mumbled loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

"Hn."

"Oh so that's the big conversation is it?" Naruto started pacing. "You brought me all the way down here for that small gem of wisdom."

"Jeez are you always this strung up, what the hell crawled up your ass." Sasuke commented as he blew a lock of hair out of his face. He really did need a haircut he thought as he crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall.

"You did! You're like a skin rash, you just show up one day and the more you try to relieve the stupid itch the more it irritates you."

God he did so not need this right now, Naruto thought, not after the weekend he'd had. He couldn't do much about his nightmarish memories or figure out where his relationship with Kakashi would lead but he could at least try to do something about this strange behavior of his childhood rival.

"Fine, I get it! Look I know you don't like me…"

"Understatement of the century." Naruto interrupted as he walked by for the fifth time.

Sasuke was getting annoyed at watching Naruto pace but no matter how hard he tried to focus on something else his eyes always wandered back to the pacing boy.

"AND." Sasuke continued like the other boy hadn't said anything. "I know you're clearly not grateful for the favor I'm doing you but…"

"Favor! There you go again. You think you're doing me a favor?" Naruto snapped. "Since when did I need an annoying stalker breathing down my neck? Glaring at my friends? Criticizing almost everything I do?"

Shit, this wasn't turning out right. What on earth was this guy's problem anyway? Sasuke knew Naruto was probably having some personal problems and everyone knew his history but even though they'd never been anything close to friends Sasuke didn't think he'd ever done anything to warrant this level of hostility. In all of their skirmishes up until now, as loath as he was to admit it, Naruto had usually had the upper hand or last word with one of his legendary pranks and Sasuke had had nothing to do with the bogus accusations Sakura and Ino had thrown at the boy. In fact he'd started this whole charade so the girls wouldn't do anything more to the boy under his name.

"Alright, maybe that didn't come out right." Sasuke ground out. Man he nearly cringed at the thought of having to be nice to the guy; he wasn't nice to anyone voluntarily except his brother on the odd moments when his brother wasn't being a complete bastard.

"Yeah right, like anything _you_ say ever comes out the wrong way."

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head; he was developing a headache very quickly.

"Look, just leave me the fuck alone alright?" Naruto yelled. "You've accomplished what you set out to do, the screaming banshee and her blondie friend are no longer bothering you so could you please just fuck off already!"

"Alright, alright!" Sasuke conceded. Shit if it bothered the guy that much he'd back off for a while, no need to give himself stress headaches over the dobe if he was going to be this unreasonable. "I just need to tell you… Hey! I actually do need to tell you something!" Sasuke grabbed Naruto's arm when the other boy started walking away.

He didn't see the fist coming until it connected with his face and he couldn't exactly hear what Naruto yelled at him before storming off because of the ringing in his ears.

Forget about the stress headache he'd been developing, Naruto sure could pack a mean punch. Sasuke just hoped he wouldn't get a bruise or a black eye; it would be hell trying to explain that to his father, especially with that board meeting he had to go to today.

Maybe he should just tell that weirdo teacher that was renting at his brother's place about Orochimaru. It wasn't like Naruto was in any immediate danger or something and if this was the thanks people got for trying to help the guy he'd just as well dump the problem in someone else's lap. If he didn't see the teacher around today he'd just ask Itachi to pass along the message and then the teacher… what had his name been… Hatake or something… could let Naruto know. It didn't hurt to let the dobe know some psycho had a weird interest in him, although he'd be damned if he went further out of his way after this try.

x.x.x.x.x

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"What are we going to do?"

Genma looked at his partner of many years before focusing back on traffic. Iruka had been quiet since he'd picked him up from the school, staring out the passenger window curled up in his seat like he was prone to do when he was stressed or feeling helpless. Genma sighed and grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly before interlocking their fingers and resting it on his thigh.

"I don't know love." He said shaking his head. He knew exactly what Iruka was feeling, he was feeling pretty helpless himself.

Iruka squeezed his hand back. "Psychiatrists, doctors, medicine… We can't put him through all that again Gen. You know what it did to him last time."

Genma banged his hand on the wheel. Oh he knew what it had done alright. After they had taken Naruto in they had gotten him all the professional help they could think of thinking it would help, regretfully it had taken them a few years to realize that it really wasn't helping at all and that most of the progress Naruto showed was the result of the love and care Iruka and Genma held for him. He could still remember Naruto stumbling around half out of it when the doctors were trying to figure out his medicine dosage. The nightmares he had after every invasive session from therapists who claimed unlocking his memories was the best way towards recovery. Genma had a feeling most of them just wanted to take credit for being the ones to solve that side of the murder of the decade.

They couldn't do that to him again… and Genma wouldn't put Iruka through that again either. Neither one of them had ever regretted taking Naruto in no matter how hard things had gotten but each set back had taken something out of Iruka. There was absolutely nothing worse than watching your loved ones fighting some inner war you couldn't help them with.

"We won't." Genma said with conviction. "We promised ourselves we wouldn't let those quacks mess with him again and we won't."

"What else can we do?" Iruka said still staring at the scenery flying by. He sounded defeated.

"We ground Naruto, get a huge bucked of ice-cream, some family friendly movies and cuddle like hamsters until all this blows over."

"I'm being serious you ass." Iruka slapped his shoulder lightly and rolled his eyes.

"So am I!" Genma shot back. "We just need to smother him in love and security, it worked well last time."

"Yah! Well I have a feeling we'll need to make more room on the couch for Kakashi as well." Iruka said with a chuckle.

"Fuck, don't remind me. I need to have a serious discussion with the guy."

"Yeah who'd have thought that the man had such a big history with Naruto?" Iruka wondered out loud.

"History? I don't care about the history! If that guy lays one perverted finger on my son…" Genma grinned and shook his head while turning into their street.

"Oh be nice." Iruka admonished. "We were their age when we started going out."

"That's… not the same." Genma tried arguing while grasping at straws. "You weren't…"

"What? Your son?" Iruka smirked.

Was it just him or did he not have this conversation with Naruto only a few weeks ago. "You were never that young." Genma finished lamely as he parked the car.

He grabbed his house keys out of the console, ignoring his cellphone for the moment since he'd be leaving for the youth centre again as soon as he got Iruka inside and settled. He didn't care if the younger man complained about it, the doctor had told him to take it easy and Genma knew Iruka would never take things easy unless you chained him to the bed. _Now there's an idea._ He thought as he ran up the steps on the front porch. He'd just put the keys in the lock when Iruka yelled at him from the car.

"Are you going to help me with this stuff or what?"

He paid it no mind when the front door clicked open slightly, they'd be going inside in a second. Iruka had sounded irritated so Genma hightailed it back to his boyfriend before he'd get on his bad side. The younger man had spent all morning doing teacher-parent interviews so he was irritated enough already and that didn't even bring into account the situation with Naruto. Plus Iruka had insisted on bringing home a mountain of papers to grade so he wouldn't go stir crazy in the house all by himself. Although Genma could never understand how grading papers from a bunch of barely literate 8 year olds could prevent anyone from going crazy, he loved working with kids but he'd scratch his own eyes out before he read any of the junk they called homework.

"Sorry." He said once he reached Iruka and made a grab for the pile of papers his boyfriend handed him, but before he could get a good hold of them a huge gust of wind swept over them blowing the papers out of Iruka's hands.

"Son of a!" Iruka grumbled.

As they both bent down to catch the papers Genma heard the loud creak of the front door, the wind must have blown it open. It was the only warning they got before everything descended into chaos. The only thing Genma felt following the loud booming noise was intense heat and the feeling of flying before he hit something hard and the world faded to black.

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Tenzou sighed and took another sip of his coffee as he slowly made the turn down the quiet suburban street a few feet after the small van. Kakashi sure owed him a huge favor for this job, his idea of an off day wasn't exactly spying on the family of Kakashi's new… well boy-toy came to mind but from the way his old captain talked about him he'd never utter those words out loud to anybody for fear of some serious ass kicking. He'd been tailing the pair in the van most of the morning and keeping up surveillance outside of the youth centre one of them worked at. He didn't really see the point but Kakashi had called him late last night asking him for this favor, something about Orochimaru having an interest in the pair's son, and even without that information Tenzou probably would have done it for him anyway. Kakashi's gut feelings had never been wrong before so clearly something must have pushed him to ask for the surveillance.

Of course he knew all about Naruto's history, just like everyone else who hadn't been living under a rock for the last ten or so years, but he couldn't imagine who'd want to hurt his parents. From what he'd seen they were pretty great men who did a lot of good work for the community they lived in.

But then again if Orochimaru was involved no one was safe.

Tenzou took another sip of his coffee as he slowly drove passed the house. He didn't want to be too obvious by parking on the street, in a neighborhood like this people were pretty tightly knit and he didn't want anyone to notice him. He'd drive to the end of the street and turn back before deciding what to do. If either of them left again he'd follow them and if not he'd look into parking on another street to stake out the house.

He'd just made it passed the house when the blast hit and his car swerved onto the sidewalk and into a light post. Once he'd gotten his bearings he snatched the rearview mirror into place, not really believing what he saw he ignored the pounding in his head and twisted in his seat. He blinked a few times but the burning mass of what was left of the house along with its scattered remains did not magically assemble into the quiet suburban home it had been only minutes ago. He reached for his cellphone blindly and pressed the speed dial for his old captain. The call didn't go through.

He turned to his door but it was smashed up against the light post so he unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed over to the passenger side and got out of the car. Once on the street he tried Kakashi again and this time the man answered.

"Tenzou, what's going on?"

Tenzou barely registered Kakashi's voice as he slowly made his way over to the rubble in a daze. How the hell did you explain this to your boss?

"Tenzou! What the hell is going on man?"

Finally he snapped out of it and his training took over. "Kakashi, get Naruto now! Someone just blew up his house!"

"They WHAT!"

"His house! Someone just blew up his house sempai! Get the kid now."

"What about his parents?" Kakashi snapped and Tenzou could hear a commotion in the background. "Where are Iruka and Genma?"

"I… I don't know man, I don't see them and it doesn't look good." Tenzou breathed out and quickened his pace, he didn't get anything else out before the beeping indicated that his captain had hung up.

He wasn't surprised; they both had their individual assignments now. Kakashi had to hunt down Naruto and Tenzou had to find the kid's parents… or… what was left of them. He wasn't a very pessimistic person but he'd seen one of them standing by the front door not long before the blast and Tenzou knew there was no way a person standing that close to a blast of that size would just walk away with a few injuries.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi barely missed a beat, he didn't even pause to make a comment to his class who by now were staring at him in wonder, he grabbed his backpack and ran out the door and he didn't stop running once out in the hallway.

He tried to focus solely on getting to Naruto but he couldn't stop thinking about what Tenzou had just told him. _It doesn't look good_ kept ringing in his ears as he bounded down the hallway, pushing through crowds and people that were unfortunate enough to get in his way. Doesn't look good could mean anything but Kakashi had been in the force long enough to know that when another task member said that something didn't look good it usually meant that they were in deep shit or that… there were casualties involved.

How on earth was he supposed to explain to Naruto that one or both of his fathers could be dead?

Kakashi came to a stop at an intersection once he reached the art department. Where the hell did Naruto take his classes on Monday mornings again? _Think, think, think, think._ Kakashi ran the mantra through his head over and over again as he practically bounced on his feet.

"Think, god damn it!" He snapped and punched a locker, making a few students standing nearby flinch and then scatter away.

"Kakashi-Sensei?"

Kakashi whirled around at the curious voice and came face to face with Sai. Before the kid could say anything else Kakashi grabbed him and demanded. "Where's Naruto?"

"Huh?" Sai looked at him like he'd just lost his mind but Kakashi didn't have time to worry about his school reputation.

"Where is Naruto's class?" He emphasized his words with a harsh shake.

"He's… down that way in design but the class should be letting out soon." Sai said quickly as he pointed down the right hallway.

Kakashi let the kid go and ran down the way he'd indicated, he knew where the design classroom was.

Once there he burst into the big room nearly slamming the door into Kotetsu and causing Izumo to throw a stack of papers into the air in fright. The rest of the class had pretty comical reactions as well and on a normal day Kakashi probably would have laughed but he was far from being amused right now, especially since he couldn't spot Naruto anywhere in the classroom.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked as he grabbed Kotetsu by the upper arm.

"Wow, you heard? News sure travel fast." Kotetsu winced. He'd probably have some bruises on his arm tomorrow.

"Have you heard anything more?" Izumo came up to them and joined in.

"_What?_" Kakashi glared at the two of them. "Heard what? Where the hell is Naruto?"

"About the accident. A cop came in about 30 minutes ago or so to pick up Naruto, Genma and Iruka were in a car accident." Kotetsu told him and then Izumo added. "He didn't say much more about it, did you hear anything? Are Iruka and Genma alright?"

Kakashi released Kotetsu and ran his hands through his hair in desperation. Car accident… picked up about a half an hour ago. This did _not_ add up, Tenzou had called him barely five minutes ago with the news of the explosion. Naruto's dads had been at their home no more than ten minutes ago so how could… He didn't want to think it but Tenzou's words came echoing through his head one more time. _This didn't look good._

"What did he look like?"

"Who? Naruto? He looked kind of upset about it…" Izumo started but shut up quickly when he saw the look on Kakashi's face.

"The cop! What did the cop look like!"

"Uh well…" "Eh…" Kotetsu and Izumo tried.

"Slim, about a few inches shorter than you, long silver hair and glasses, probably in his late 20's or so." Shikamaru droned from his seat at the computers.

Kakashi looked at him and their eyes met. The boy's voice might have sounded bored but he was watching him with a harsh calculating look in his eyes. _Smart kid_. Kakashi thought. _Probably too smart for his own good_. He shook his head slightly to halt any further inquiry from the boy, he'd be sending someone to pick up the kid later to question him and get a sketch done, although considering the department the kid was in he could probably do the sketch himself. He had a pretty good idea who'd shown up and taken Naruto based on the description and if he was correct it didn't bode well at all.

He needed to get to headquarters right now.

Kakashi ignored Izumo's and Kotetsu's questions as he stormed out of the room. He snatched his phone back out of his pocket when it rang and glanced at the caller ID before hitting the answer button and barking over the line. "Tenzou what's the situation?"

"I'm… afraid it's not good Sempai." Tenzou's deep voice sounded strained and Kakashi knew what was coming before it was said.

"Tell me."

"There's no sign of them anywhere outside… they… must have been already inside the house when the blast went off."

"Shit!" Kakashi swore loudly as he burst out of the side doors leading to the parking lot where his bike was parked. He'd been hoping against hope that at least one or both of them had for some miraculous reason been far enough away from the blast to escape it. "Fuuuuuck!" he kicked the side wall before he jumped down the steps and ran to his bike. "Get the hell out of there before the authorities get there and meet me at HQ."

"Way ahead of you Sempai. My ride got damaged so I arranged a pickup a few streets down, I should be there within the half an hour. How's the kid?"

Kakashi sighed heavily and brought the phone down from his ear as he stared blankly at his bike. He didn't want to admit it, couldn't even wrap his mind around it yet. Finally he brought the phone back to his ear and confirmed to himself and to Tenzou what they both had been afraid of since this all started. "They took him."

He'd failed again.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Naruto woke up with a pounding headache on something soft that smelled faintly of vomit… and seemed to be moving. His hands were numb but he managed to bring them up to clutch his head and got something metal brushing against his face.

What had he been doing?

He thought back and then it clicked. The police! A police man had come to the school and told him his dads had been in a car accident. They'd walked out of the school towards the patrol car, the cop being pretty mute or vague in response to all of his questions. He remembered feeling more and more nervous about his dads with each passing minute because of the evasive behavior, it must have been pretty bad if the cop wasn't saying anything. The last thing he remembered was the cop pushing him into the back of the car and then nothing.

His stomach clenched and a chill ran down his spine, something wasn't right. He opened his eyes and stared at the cuffs on his arms. Something definitely wasn't right.

"He's waking up."

Naruto's eyes flicked up and caught a glimpse of a silver haired man sitting in the passenger seat through the metal grid separating the front of the car from the back. It was the cop who'd picked him up.

"Told you we should have used a bigger dose." The man said, identifying himself as the owner of the previous voice.

"I know my doses." The other cop said, although Naruto was pretty sure by now that these guys weren't cops. He couldn't see the new guy very well because he was lying with his head behind his seat and the only thing he could make out of his head was a police cap. "The boss wanted him brought in intact and preferably conscious, a bigger dose would have knocked him out for a day… or killed him." Another chill ran down Naruto's spine at the amusement in the guy's voice over his possible death.

Since they already knew he was awake Naruto sat up and looked around. They were on a freeway heading south based on the position of the city. He twisted the cuffs on his arms but they were locked tight, too tight as they were digging into his wrists. No way was he going to demand where they were going, those fuckers probably wouldn't tell him anything and he really didn't want to turn into one of those annoying characters in the movies who asked annoying questions of their captors which never answered any of… them… shit people in those shows usually ended up dead.

He fumbled numbly with his pockets. Figures… they'd taken his phone and everything else he'd been carrying. The bastards had even taken his watch.

Screw not panicking, he was pretty sure he had a very good reason to panic just about now. He banged on the window trying to catch someone's attention but when he noticed the looks on people's faces he realized just how bad the situation was. He was in the back of a police car, handcuffed, with two guys who looked like cops in the front. He probably looked like a deranged criminal.

All he could do now was wait and see what would become of him. He thought about how worried his dads would be when they found out he was missing, clearly there hadn't been an accident, he thought about Kakashi as well and what he would do. The guy was an old SWAT member, maybe he would be able to do something, find him somehow. He'd like to think he was strong enough to escape on his own but he was realistic enough to realize it probably wouldn't work. There were two captors with him now and judging from their talk they were on their way to a place with more people and he'd apparently been drugged once already.

Naruto stared at the city getting further and further away while he tried to control his breathing. He kept struggling with the handcuffs not even noticing the wounds he was scratching into his wrists.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Genma blinked his eyes just in time to see a flying burning plank coming straight for him, he rolled quickly to the right ignoring the stabbing pain that burned down his back and arm from his left shoulder. He heard the thump behind him from the plank hitting the ground at the same moment he spotted Iruka lying a few feet from him. He crawled over to his boyfriend as fast as he could mindless to the debris falling down around them. Iruka wasn't moving.

"Iruka!" Genma nearly screamed when he reached him. "Iruka! Iruka!" he kept repeating as he ran his hands all over him looking for injuries. There was blood on his face from some cuts on his head and his eyes were staring straight up looking at nothing.

"Iruka." Genma could feel his heart clenching and there didn't seem to be enough air around him to breath.

Finally Iruka's eyes slid over to his and he croaked out. "What the hell happened?" Before he had a coughing fit.

"Shit, Iruka are you alright? Talk to me baby. Tell me you're alright."

"What happened?" Iruka raised his head and stared at what was left of their house over their neighbor's overgrown hedge. "Oh my god Genma, what the hell happened?"

"Shh. Come on, can you move?" Genma said as he grabbed a hold of the front of Iruka's jacked and dragged him along the hedge to the back of the house. "We need to get out of here."

"What? Genma!" Iruka dazedly grabbed Genma's hands while he tried to gain his footing. "We can't leave! We need to call the police…"

"Not here." Genma said distractedly as he snuck a peak over the hedge. His old instincts were kicking in and he studied the street looking for anything out of the ordinary, he spotted a strange man walking towards their house talking on a cellphone and ducked out of view again before the man could see him. "That wasn't a gas leak love, that was intentional which means someone might be watching the house."

They reached the back of their neighbor's house, Iruka had gained his footing but Genma was still half dragging him along because of his broken foot. They found a small opening in the corner of the hedge separating the back garden from the one behind it. From there Genma dragged Iruka around the back of the garage and out to the front. They'd just cleared the corner when they heard the back door open and a frail woman's voice using the Lord's name in vain. Although Genma was pretty sure she'd be forgiven for it under the circumstances.

"Gen…" Iruka began.

"Shh!"

Iruka followed his boyfriend in silence over to the beat up red Sedan parked out front. "What are you doing?" He whispered urgently when Genma opened the passenger door and shoved him inside. Genma ran around the car and got into the driver's seat; he didn't say anything as he reached under the steering wheel, ripped the interior down and reached for the wires.

_Thank the lord for trusting old ladies._ Genma thought as he started hotwiring the car, there weren't many people who left their cars open these days.

"Genma!" Iruka exclaimed. "You can't steal a car!" Iruka ran his hands over his face to get rid of the stinging in his eyes, he stared at his hands when they came away bloody and black with soot.

He still couldn't get his mind to catch up to what was going on and his ears were ringing louder than all the bells in Notre Dame combined. Not that he'd ever heard them personally, he'd always wanted to go but they'd never had the money and… what had he been thinking about. The sound of the car starting brought his attention back to his boyfriend who had apparently been hiding some pretty strange, and quite illegal, talents from him. He knew Genma hadn't had a pristine past before they'd met but that part of his life had been long over before Iruka met him so he'd never really asked. He wondered what other talents Genma possessed that he didn't know about.

"I'm sure Mrs. Dalloway won't mind if we borrowed her car for a while." Genma said as he drove off. "You know how much she likes you." No one seemed to be paying them any mind, everyone in the street had their eyes glued on their house and Genma couldn't see anyone out of the ordinary like the guy he'd spotted before.

"Borrowed!" Iruka hollered. "We're not borrow… OH MY GOD! Genma, you're hurt!"

"I kind of figured that." Genma grimaced when Iruka reached out for him. "Don't touch it!"

"You… There's… Genma you have a stake in your shoulder." Iruka said breathlessly.

Genma looked over in time to see his boyfriend slump back in a dead faint. He couldn't help thinking it was for the best really, this way Iruka wouldn't be stressed or in pain from any of his injuries. Genma was starting to feel the burn in his left shoulder from the "stake" as Iruka had put it, he knew he was probably losing a fair amount of blood but he figured the adrenalin would serve to get them to their destination where ever that was. At least he hoped it would. He was carefree and optimistic most of the time but with his voice of reason passed out in the seat next to him he really needed to develop his own and that voice wasn't very optimistic at the moment.

He knew he should get them to a hospital but his instincts were screaming at him to lay low. Hospitals meant questions and in this case probably cops and even though he certainly wasn't hiding anything these days old habits died hard. In circumstances like these it was best to trust no one but the people you already knew wouldn't sell you out.

He briefly thought about going over to the youth centre or contacting Raidou but the centre would be swarming with kids and he really didn't want to drag Raidou into anything, especially since he didn't know what he'd be dragging his old friend into. He had no idea who on earth would want to blow up their house, it wasn't like he and Iruka had any enemies. He'd been a street kid sure but he'd never been in an actual gang or anything like that and Iruka was as straight as they could get… well at least in the _has never even so much as nicked a dollar from his parents_ capacity… he was a grade school teacher for crying out loud. Genma seriously didn't think 8 year olds or their parents would resort to blowing up their house because of a failed grade.

Of course some people had always had problems with Naruto but he couldn't believe anyone would go so far as to try to kill him. _Naruto… Of course!_ He could go to Jiraiya, the old man ran some kind of a security company and from what he saw this weekend there was probably a lot more going on in that building than your average bodyguard service. Plus they'd seemed to have a pretty decent medical facility.

Genma reached into his pocket for his phone and when he encountered nothing he remembered he'd left it in the van. He maneuvered in the seat and brought his knee up to steer with as he reached over and felt around Iruka's clothing for his phone, his left arm was absolutely useless by now, he could barely even move his fingers. He cried out in victory once he found it but the joy was short lived. The phone was dead and the screen was cracked, it must have gotten damaged in the blast.

Well there was nothing for it really; they'd just have to storm the front gates so to speak.

But only if Genma had enough energy to get them there.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Kakashi burst out of the metal doors leading into the underground parking facility with Tenzou hot on his heels. He was just about ready to blow up a few things himself right about now. It had taken him about 20 minutes to reach HQ, that had been about two hours ago. In that time Tenzou had arrived and given a report of what he'd seen leading up to the explosion and Shikamaru had been brought in for questioning regarding the cop that had picked up Naruto. The boy had seemed to take it all in stride as he was brought up to one of their interrogation floors; he'd just stared calmly at Kakashi as he questioned him and then proceeded to make a thorough sketch of the cop. It had been at that point that things had started to go downhill.

Judging from his previous description Kakashi had been _positive_ that the man Shikamaru saw had been Kabuto, Orochimaru's right hand man, which would have meant they'd have a viable reason to storm the guy's company and every known property he had in order to find Naruto. But the man had turned out to be someone completely unknown and therefore they had almost no leads to go on.

Although Kakashi didn't know why on earth they couldn't just storm all of Orochimaru's usual hunts anyway since there was absolutely no one else who could be behind this. He'd nearly punched Tsunade when she'd told him there was nothing they could do until they got further proof, what was the use of having a huge secret task force if you still had to follow all the same rules as the rest of them.

The only reason he hadn't was because of the look Tsunade gave him when she clearly told him that _they_ couldn't legally do anything more. Kakashi was well known for his tendencies to look underneath the underneath. Tsunade's orders had been clear but underlying them had been a message. A plea.

Tsunade and ANBU would do whatever was in their power to find Naruto but they would do so legally, it was Kakashi's job to do whatever he could to find the boy by other means.

_I will find him!_ Kakashi vowed to himself. _And when I do I will kill that son of a bitch once and for all!_

They'd almost reached Kakashi's car when they were halted by a voice.

"Take me with you."

Kakashi looked back to see Shikamaru standing there, determination burning in his calculating eyes.

"No." He admired the boy's guts but this was no situation to be dragging a teenager into and Kakashi told him so.

"I understand the danger and I'm not asking you to take me with you chasing down criminals. I imagine you'll set up a base somewhere where you can gather intel and plan strategies and I'm good with that."

"Look I know you're smart but…"

"My IQ is around 200 and I might be lazy but I have a lot of free time on my hands, trust me when I say that you'll need me for something." Shikamaru said as he walked passed them and got in the car. Before he closed the door he turned and looked at them. "I'm the only one who's seen the man who took him and between you and whatever organization you have in there I'm placing my bet on you to find him. Therefore I'm going with you."

Tenzou looked at Kakashi with wide eyes. "Did he just say two…"

"Hundred? Yeah he did." Kakashi said before he got in the car as well.

"Wow…" Was all Tenzou managed before he followed suit.

Once everyone was in the car Kakashi put it into gear and drove to the only place he knew he'd get all the help he would need to make his vow come true, incidentally it was also the place he'd called home for the last few years. Itachi owed him a hell of a lot of favors he intended to collect and if that wasn't enough he could always blackmail him into it with something.

It made his skin crawl just thinking about what could have been done to Naruto in those two hours.

x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x

x.x.x.x.x

Raidou walked to his office with the little mongrel Genma had saddled him with while his friend took his lunch break. It had been a little over 3 hours since Genma had left to pick up Iruka and he was just about ready to go storming over to their house with the little beast. At least now he knew why Genma had decided to bring the dog to work instead of leaving him at home for Iruka to handle. The dog had done nothing but growl at him since Genma left and Raidou swore that he'd kill the man if he was doing what he thought he was doing. It wouldn't be the first time Genma took a long lunch break when Iruka had an off day; he swore those idiots could be worse than dogs in heat.

As if he knew what he'd been thinking and had taken offence by it the little dog growled again.

"You must get along very well with Iruka don't you?" He mumbled to the mutt. "Big tempers in a tiny body."

He tried calling Genma's phone again but like the ten other times he'd called it went straight to voicemail. He was just about to curse his friend when his office door swung open and Kiba and his family walked in. The greetings for them died on his lips as well when he saw the looks on their faces.

"Are they here?" Kiba asked in an uncharacteristically subdued voice.

"Who?" Raidou asked uneasily. "Iruka and Genma? They're probably at home, has something happened to Naruto?" He didn't like the look of the Inuzuka family one bit; he'd never in his life seen all of them this quiet.

"At home…" Kiba clenched his eyes shut and turned to his mom who took him into her arms. He'd heard through the gossip at school that Naruto had been picked up by a police officer and when he couldn't find Shikamaru anywhere he'd found Chouji and together they'd decided to skip the rest of their classes in order to go home and see if they'd find out what was going on. Chouji had decided to go back to his own place to see if he could find Shikamaru since the boy lived in the same street. They'd both cursed Shikamaru's weirdness on their drive over there because the guy was refusing to get a cellphone no matter how much they bugged him about it, he always just said they were too troublesome and that he'd never get a moments peace if he had one.

When Kiba had arrived at his own house he'd felt like he was driving into a whole new world. There were fire trucks there trying to put out Naruto's house, Kiba had spotted a few scorch marks on the surrounding houses as well, police vehicles with flashing lights, a few news vans and there had been people everywhere on the street watching the proceedings like it was some fascinating disaster movie.

He'd quickly found his mother and his sister and not knowing what else to do but not wanting to stay to watch their friends' house burn any longer they'd decided to come here in the vain hope that Genma and Iruka had been at the centre when it all happened.

They'd all known it but no one had wanted to admit out loud that if they had been they would have arrived home when they'd gotten the news.

"What's going on?" Raidou asked.

Hana patted her brother's shoulder before she turned to him. "There… was an explosion at their house earlier today." She said. "They're still trying to put it out so they don't know the cause yet but they suspect it was a gas leak."

"Are… are they alright?" Raidou managed to ask before he collapsed into his office chair. He couldn't believe that only minutes ago he'd been cursing his friend for taking a long lunch break.

"The…" Hana's voice gave out so it was Tsume who finished for her.

"The car was out front… but we were still hoping they might have been here." Tsume said, her face ash gray. "The… there's no way anyone inside the house could have survived."

Raidou heard a loud sob echo in the room but he couldn't have said which one of the four of them had made it.

"What about Naruto?" He croaked out.

"The police picked him up from school." Tsume said before she led her little family over to the couch lined up against one of the walls of the office. She just couldn't take her family back home again… not with the gigantic reminder of what they had lost still smoking behind their house.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Naruto braced his feet on the floor as the car ran over another hole in the dirt road they were on. He hadn't been expecting it the first time they'd hit a bump and he'd banged his head on the window, being handcuffed and woozy from some unknown drug was playing havoc with his balance and he'd soon taken up the middle seat with both feet planted firmly to the sides so he could keep himself upright. He'd tried lying down again but the dizziness from the drugs combined with the moving of the car had made him feel like he needed to throw up. It hadn't helped that the car seat already smelled like someone had thrown up on it recently.

His captors had continued to ignore him since he woke up and he'd been loathed to change that by talking to them, not that he'd had anything to say to them anyway, he'd probably find out what was going to happen to him soon enough once they got to "the boss" as they had put it earlier and for now he was content to live in a sort of denial about what that might mean. He was nervous about it enough already and he couldn't imagine being stuck in the little space in the back of the police car with the knowledge of just exactly how fucked up his life was about to get once they arrived, because it sure as hell wasn't going to be puppies and rainbows that awaited him there.

The men hadn't even talked to each other as they headed out of the city and drove for about 2 hours before they'd turned onto the country road. Naruto had passed the time studying his captors in between glancing at the clock on the dashboard and the surrounding scenery. He didn't know if the clock was accurate or not, if it was it would have meant he'd been unconscious for about 3 hours before they'd headed out of town and he couldn't imagine his captors wanting to stick around town that long after kidnapping him, all he knew was that it was still day time outside and accurate or not he'd still been able to keep track of the time on it.

The cop who'd picked him up had taken off the glasses and had spent most of the time on the drive texting on his phone or something similar. He'd occasionally glanced back at Naruto with a malicious grin on his face; Naruto had looked away when he did. There was something psychotic about the look in his eyes… it nearly looked inhuman.

He still hadn't gotten a good look at the other cop since he'd been facing forwards pretty much the whole drive, completely ignoring him, and Naruto couldn't help being relieved that he did because as evil as the first cop looked he seemed like a kitten compared to the feeling he was getting off of the driver. He didn't really look it from what Naruto had seen, the guy looked pretty young, a small amount of silver hair could be seen from under the police cap and he was either wearing the same glasses the other guy had been wearing when he picked him up or similar ones.

Naruto tipped to the side when they hit another hole and he came close to falling over but managed to gain his balance before he did, although the movement brought the nausea back with a vengeance. He had a sneaking suspicion that the driver was hitting all the worst holes on purpose because the road definitely didn't look all that bad.

His suspicions were confirmed when the car suddenly came to a screeching halt a few minutes later causing Naruto to go flying into the metal grid head first before he could bring his hands up to ease the collision. His head throbbed and he saw stars as he fell forwards and puked up nothing but stomach acid over his shoes. He hadn't had any breakfast in his hurry that morning and they'd collected him before his lunch break so he had nothing else in his stomach to throw up.

"Ugh! Did you _have_ to do that?" Was the last thing Naruto heard before he fell back in the seat, he didn't fight the darkness creeping up on him because total oblivion sounded better than the horrible uncertainty and abuse he was under now.

Naruto didn't know how long he'd been under but when he came to again he was being dragged up a flight of stairs. He was kind of surprised how nice the carpet on them looked, not that he had a lot of experience in being kidnapped but he'd been imagining something more along the lines of a dirty cellar or a rundown cabin and less along the lines of something out of Luxury Homes and Style Magazine. The hallway they went down next wasn't any different, the walls were lined with grand paintings, the carpet was spotless and the woodwork looked polish enough to be used as a mirror. He was dragged through fancy double doors leading into what looked to be a library straight out of the 1800's novels Iruka was so fond of; he would have used the same words to describe it anyway, and thrown down on the Persian rug in front of the fireplace. His stomach clenched but at this point he wasn't sure if it was from the nausea or hunger, he had no way of knowing how long it had been since he'd gotten any food as he wasn't exactly sure what time it was. All he knew was that he hadn't eaten since yesterday. His hands were still cuffed but he managed to get them under himself to push up into a sitting position, it would make him feel a little less vulnerable than lying on the floor in front of his captors. He'd only just managed to right himself up when a low voice he faintly remembered hearing before spoke up near his ear.

"Hello. Naruto."

A cold hand grabbed his chin and turned his head until he gazed up into the face of what was unmistakably the boss of this whole operation, and when their eyes met Naruto knew just how fucked he really was.

x.x.x.x.x

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x.x.x.x.x

Itachi had taken one look at his friend as he'd walked through the back door of his tattoo parlor 2 hours ago with a man dressed in an ANBU uniform and one of his brother's school mates before he'd gotten up, walked to the front of the store and shut the whole parlor down. It hadn't taken more than that for him to realize that something big had happened and that Kakashi was not just coming over for a cup of his overprized imported coffee. The look on the man's face had been more than enough to tell him that without the strange entourage.

His own crew was trained well enough to not question him but he'd had to use a few well practiced glares to send some of the customers flying out of the establishment with half finished tattoos, although Hidan's swearing and threats of bodily harm had been enough to send his customer running for his life before all the others, Itachi was sure the man had been on the verge of doing just that even before they started kicking people out. Kisame, who had been shadowing him from the minute he walked out front, grinning at them with his shark like teeth had also helped, very few men wanted to go up against the giant blue man.

After that had been finished Itachi had lead everyone up to the top floor to his apartment where they rearranged his spacious living room into headquarters. Sasori, Kisame and Kakuzu had set out to gather every computer they could find in the building, Deidara and Nagato had started calling in everyone in the crew who didn't live there or weren't at work and Shikamaru and Yamato, as the ANBU member had been introduced as even though Itachi knew it was a fake name, had been ordered to move away furniture they wouldn't need and bring in tables while Itachi questioned Kakashi about the situation.

Once everything they needed had been gathered they'd started setting everything up while they waited for the rest of the gang to show up. Shikamaru had proven to be incredibly helpful with setting up the computers in the absence of Shoudou and Chiku, Itachi's main computer experts, but that was about all Itachi noticed because at that point he himself had been busy calling a few _family_ members he knew where still in the police, he didn't care what the rest of them were doing so long as they didn't get in his way.

Kakashi had said Naruto had been picked up by men dressed as cops and according to some eye witnesses ANBU had managed to question discreetly they had arrived in a patroller and everything, of course ANBU had figured out that the car had been stolen and Itachi hadn't doubt their information but he'd also known that ANBU had gotten the information by an "internal affairs" route in which case the police was bound to have left out information if not downright lied in order to decrease the damage to whichever station or crew who had lost the car in the first place. It didn't take a genius to figure that small fact out but that was what you got when you tried to gather information the legal way. All Itachi had had to do was call a few members of his old family who either owed him favors or could be blackmailed into giving him what he needed.

Inabi had hung up once he'd found out who was calling, probably afraid of what his father would do if he found out he'd been speaking to his son. Although Itachi couldn't see how his father would have ever found out unless Inabi himself told him so, Itachi certainly wasn't going to tell the old man, but the rest of the family had always been nervous about Fugaku's long reach. Yashiro hadn't been any help simply because the old man hadn't heard anything about it but Itachi hit the jackpot with his cousin Tekka. The young man was actually working at the station the car had been stolen from and, after some persuasion, had been able to tell him all the information ANBU were still waiting for like the make of the car, the plate numbers, when and where it had been taken along with the fact that the police officers assigned to the car were still missing. Itachi hadn't said it but he doubted they'd be finding the men alive, people who got in the way of Orochimaru or his crew tended to turn up dead if they turned up at all.

This was why it was vital to find Naruto as soon as possible, before Orochimaru deemed him useless. The fact that the boy had been kidnapped were the only good news so far because it meant that they had wanted him alive, although how long that would last no one knew. If Orochimaru had just wanted the kid dead he would have made sure that Naruto was with his fathers when the house was blown up.

Once the rest of the crew had shown up they'd been briefed by Kakashi and his small team before Itachi went over what he'd just found out from his cousin and then everyone had set out doing their own thing. Shikamaru was now working with Shoudou and Chiku in the hacking department, the twins haven taken him under their wing once they'd found out who'd set the computers up. Itachi hadn't batted an eye when that talent had been revealed, a teenager with an IQ like that and a lot of free time was almost destined for the role of hacker in his opinion what with all the technology and all these days, but Kakashi and Yamato had seemed both fascinated and comprehensive about it.

Nagato, his communications expert, and Yamato were in constant contact with ANBU in case they got any new leads and Sasori was calling all his _puppets_, as he liked to call his informants, to see if they'd heard anything.

Kakuzu was, not surprisingly, investigating everything he could get his hands on about Orochimaru's finances with the help of the hacker team, they didn't have that much time but Itachi was sure that if they had a few days to work on it they'd be able to find out just what the henchmen of Orochimaru's henchmen had spent on some trivial thing ten years ago.

Konan, his top forgerer, was hard at work getting together everything Deidara would need in order to pose as a fire investigator as quickly as she could. Deidara was at that moment looking at every news coverage he could find of the blast to see if he could gather any information from that but they'd have to wait until he could get on the scene before they'd get anything solid. So far there had been no news of bodies but they didn't know if that was because no bodies had been found yet or because the people already on the scene were covering it up.

The Zetsu twins had been sent out to monitor Orochimaru's company but Itachi already knew it would lead them nowhere. Orochimaru hadn't staid untouchable for years by being sloppy.

Itachi didn't know what on earth Tobi was doing other than driving everyone else in the room nuts or providing comic relief. The master thief and scammer came off as a raging lunatic most of the time but Itachi knew just how serious he could get while on a job and Tobi's ability to get into locked things was so good that it was almost like he could walk through walls. They didn't need him right now but as annoying as he was they might need him later so Itachi had had him called in along with everyone else.

The same went for the rest of his men. Hidan, Kisame and the three remaining Pains Ningendou, Shuradou and Gakidou were his main task force along with himself and as there wasn't much fighting going on at the moment, and they really had no intel what so ever on Naruto's situation, so there wasn't much they could. Right now all of them, along with Kakashi, were going over information about Orochimaru and all of his known associates in order to see what they might be going up against but Orochimaru was known to change his crew quite often, with the exception of Kabuto, so there really was no knowing who he'd be working with this time.

Itachi glared at the clock willing it to go faster and yet hoping that time would stop for them long enough to figure this whole thing out. He _knew_ his father was involved with Orochimaru in some way these days and even though he did have other means of finding information about his dear old dad he knew it wouldn't be nearly as good as the information he could gather from his brother but his stupid sire had a firm grip on his brother until after dinner and since the clock was only just over 5 pm it meant he'd have to wait for at least two hours before he could get a hold of Sasuke. Of course his brother could be totally clueless as to what on earth was going on between his father and Orochimaru, since he'd only just met him the day before and the snake faced bastard had used most of that time to gather information on Naruto, but Itachi didn't _want_ to wait for two hours to confirm that because there was also a possibility that Sasuke _did_ know something that could help them.

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An hour later Kakashi sat in a chair at the back of the big room. The rest of the haphazardly put together team was milling about around him planning or chasing down the same old leads they'd already exhausted every which way to Sunday and back with no results. Some of them were even repeating methods others had done before like it would magically make the results change for the better. It kind of reminded Kakashi of trying to open a tight lidded jar, if you didn't succeed you were suddenly surrounded by people demanding you hand it over and let them try it. It was ridiculous to say the least but who knew… the jar usually opened eventually so maybe someone would catch something others had overlooked and therefore Kakashi didn't say anything.

After Tenzou had gotten him introduced and set up contacts for him Nagato had staid glued to the phone monitoring ANBU's progress. Not surprisingly ANBU had focused most of their power trying to figure out the identity of Naruto's only known kidnapper; Shikamaru's sketch was being compared to every major criminal database they had but so far nothing had turned up. They'd also reluctantly agreed to send over all the files they had on Orochimaru once they'd been compiled but not until after Kakashi had called Tsunade herself and told her in no uncertain terms that if anything happened to Naruto because of their fucking protocol it would be on her hands.

Tenzou had then taken over his spot in the task force group so Kakashi could keep track of the rest of the teams with Itachi. Everyone was pretty much where they'd started off apart from Deidara and Konan. Deidara had left for Naruto's house already to try to find out the source of the explosion and to see if he could find any leads there that might help them out. Konan, not having any more forgeries to do, had started making herself busy by making coffee for everyone and ordering food.

Part of him knew he should be with the others but he'd been at it for what felt like weeks already with nothing to show for it apart from a massive headache and the most mind numbing feeling of helplessness he'd ever felt. With each new failure or dead end he'd met it had felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Each time his mind had whispered to him _You're not going to find him_ and eventually he'd gotten too tired to reassure himself otherwise.

His fingers idly played with a battered up stuffed toy as his eyes stared unseeingly at the wall, his mind miles away in a distant past.

_Kakashi stepped out of the car in front of the tall building with everything he owned in a brown cardboard box. He felt incredibly small standing there on the sidewalk in such a rich neighborhood in his dirty clothes. Someone like him didn't belong here, soon they would see that and then he'd be back on the streets again. No one had ever wanted him for long._

"_Come on champ." Minato said as he patted him on the shoulder. "There's someone who's been dying to meet you." _

_The man smiled at him with more kindness than Kakashi thought he deserved but he didn't say anything, he just followed the man inside soaking up the warmth from the man's hand on his shoulder, it would all be gone soon enough and he was determined to enjoy it as long as it lasted. _

_He cringed when Minato lead him to the elevator and he was just about to turn away and tell the man he'd take the stairs when he squeezed his shoulder and said._

"_You'll have to face your fears someday Kakashi. Better to do it now than later when it's had time to grow roots and fester." _

_His chest was so tight that he felt like he couldn't breathe on the way up and his left eye burned but he fought the urge to rub it because it was still healing. It was the only thing he had left of his friend and loosing it would be like killing him all over again. _

_They'd barely made it through the door when something grabbed his legs. He had to lift the box out of the way in order to look down and see what it was and when he did he was met by two huge sapphire eyes staring at him intently. _

"_I got a boo boo." A small voice said before a finger with a colorful band-aid was waved up towards his face. "I had an acshident." _

"_Uhm." Kakashi said helplessly. When he looked up Minato had been joined by his wife, Kushina he thought her name was, and they were both beaming at him with amused smiles. _

"_Are you a pirate?" _

_Kakashi looked back down at the little boy._

"_What?" _

"_A pirate. Arrr!" The little bandaged finger was now waving at him crookedly like a hook. _

"_No, I'm not a pirate." Kakashi fought the urge to shake the little creature of his leg. He didn't have the slightest idea how to deal with kids. _

"_But you only have one eye."_

"_Naruto, sweetie." Kushina said as she walked over to them. "Why don't you take this young man here to his new room hmm?" _

_Kakashi gave them a terrified look as the little kid dragged him down the hallway but the red haired lady just laughed and hugged her husband as they watched them leave. _

"_Are you my new big brother?" The kid, Naruto, asked eagerly._

_Kakashi had a fleeting thought about asking him what had happened to the old one but thought better of it. The kid was probably too young to understand sarcasm. "I guess." He said instead while he studied the room they were now in. _

_It looked nice, although compared to the loft he'd been squatting in before everything would look good. There was a queen sized bed up against the furthest wall near a big window, a nice looking desk stood opposite it and near the door where they had come in was a huge wardrobe. He didn't know what on earth he'd be doing with that since he only had one extra sweater, he supposed he could use it to store the box with his things in it. For now he put it down on the bed and studied the contents for lack of anything better to do. _

"_What's your name nii-san?" Naruto asked as he climbed up on the bed and looked down into the box too. _

"_Hatake, Kakashi." He said distractedly as he pulled his spare sweater out of the box. Maybe he should throw it away, it was littered with holes and he was pretty sure the stains on it were dried blood from some fight or another, but it was the only extra pair of clothing he owned. He'd had a full set of extra clothes before but he'd been wearing them when… when he was in the accident and they'd thrown them away at the hospital. _

"_Kashi!" Naruto's excited squeal brought him crashing back to reality. Oh there was no way the kid was going to be calling him that. "No. It's Hatake, Kakashi." He said again a bit sternly, it was best to squash that kind of thing right away or it would never stop. _

"_Take-nii-san." _

_Or maybe not… He guessed Take would just have to do because god forbid the boy came up with some other even more horrible version of his name._

"_Fluffy!" _

_Kakashi froze half way to the little trash bin next to the desk, where he'd intended to throw away his sweater, at the little boy's cry. "What!" He twisted around to look at the kid. Thankfully the boy had not been calling him that but the small plushie dog that he'd had since he was young. He knew it was silly and most of his acquaintances would no doubt laugh in his face if they ever found out but his father had given him that stuffed toy once and he'd guarded the thing like it was a priceless treasure both at all the foster homes and orphanages he'd been sent to and then on the streets. _

"_I'mma call him Kashi." The little hellion said and before Kakashi could stop him the boy had run out of the room with his most prized possession. _

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Itachi glanced up from the reports that they'd been able to scrounge up so far. With one look he took in the whole room and assessed the situation, everyone was still hard at work except… Kakashi, who was sitting in a dark corner staring at nothing.

Itachi, who never did anything until he'd gotten all the facts about every minor detail, decided to disregard his own rules for once and marched over to Kakashi. He hated going into anything without the certainty that he'd come out on top but the stupid idiot was in one of his moods and Itachi knew from experience that if he wasn't dragged out of it in time the man would sink so low that there would be no pulling him back for days if at all. The guy probably had more repressed and unresolved issues than Itachi did and that was saying something compared to the fact that Itachi was the bloody king of unresolved issues. Uchiha men _never_ talked about their feelings to anyone and Itachi had taken to the lesson so well that he didn't even think about his own feelings most of the time.

But although he'd been accused of it often enough Itachi wasn't entirely heartless, unlike his father, and he looked after the people he knew and liked no matter the cost. He'd only ever done this with his brother and he was loath to do this in a room full of people but they needed Kakashi to stay focused, everything was riding on him now and if he went down the rest of them would go tumbling down with him.

Itachi poked Kakashi's head as he sat down next to him. "Stop thinking so far ahead or you'll base your thoughts on facts that you don't have." He said quietly.

"I thought that was what planning was all about. Thinking ahead and coming up with outcomes." Kakashi responded in an equally quiet voice, his eyes and attention still focused on the stuffed toy dog he held in his hands.

Kakashi had slipped away to his apartment earlier and gotten the thing where it had been buried deep at the back of his closet. Naruto had stolen it that fateful day and he'd only tried to get it back once, the kid had been so disappointed that he'd been unable to go through with it. When Naruto hadn't remembered him and he'd been ordered to stay away Kakashi had broken into Minato's apartment, even though it had been an active crime scene, and taken the toy back. He'd meant to have it delivered to Naruto but he just couldn't do it, the toy had been the only thing to get him through losing the boy and his parents.

"I told you to stop thinking. We'll find him." Itachi was sure they would, the only thing he was afraid of was in what condition the boy would be once they did.

"We've been at it for hours and we're no closer to finding him than we were at the start."

"We've only been looking for about two to three hours Kakashi. These things take time." Itachi said, looking over his shoulder to give the room another glance.

"Well he's been missing for almost six!" Kakashi snapped back. "I know what he does Itachi; we both know what that bastard is capable of."

"We're going to find him alive." Itachi said forcefully. "He'll be broken but alive and you'll love him just the same and this time you won't let anything tear you apart, you'll stay with him and help him heal no matter how long it will take you and eventually he will be alright again."

"I can't stand the thought of it." Kakashi said in a broken voice. "All that pain… he's been through enough pain already… Why do that to him? Why take him… what does he gain from that?"

Itachi stood up and poked his finger against Kakashi's head again. "If you want to prevent him from feeling more pain then get yourself together and do something about it, because we both know sitting and feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to help him any. _You_ are the most important person he has right now, don't let him down… Don't give up on him before we even find out anything; if you do you've already lost him."

"How do you do it?" Kakashi was again staring at the stuffed toy but his voice sounded calmer than before.

He was pulling himself together which was a good sign Itachi thought. "Do what?" He asked.

"Tell someone that for the second time in your life you've lost the two people who should always be there for you."

Itachi bent forward and gripped Kakashi's shoulder, waiting until the man raised his head and their eyes met. "You do it with love, so they know that even though they lost a great deal there are still people out there who care about them."

"I believe you won't have to do that."

Both Kakashi and Itachi looked up to see Shikamaru standing behind the couch.

"According to recent files I just found in the ANBU database two injured men arrived there earlier today, one of whom claims to be Shiranui, Genma."

"What!" Kakashi jumped out of his seat and marched over to the computers. "Did ANBU send those files over? Why haven't they contacted us with this information?"

And what on earth did it mean when they said one of them _claimed_ to be Genma. Were his injuries so severe that they couldn't ID him? Maybe it wasn't him and that's why no one had told them about it.

"They didn't send us anything, I hacked into their database." Shikamaru said lazily as he sat down by his computer again and started clicking through files.

"I'm sorry, what?" Kakashi said in disbelief. "You hacked into the ANBU database? The actual database? The database that's supposed to be completely unhackable because it's so well protected?"

Shikamaru's only response was an annoyed glance.

"Right… IQ of 200 and all that, I get it. Why were you hacking into the database in the first place?"

"When you asked for everything they had about Orochimaru the response we got was that we would get everything once it had been compiled. Now I'm not an expert but I would imagine that a company like that would be highly organized which means everything they have on Orochimaru should be compiled somewhere already." Shikamaru explained in a tired voice.

"That makes sense." Kakashi waved Tenzou over and asked him to contact Tsunade or Jiraiya directly to see what was going on. It was too much of a coincidence that two injured men would show up at the company claiming to be Naruto's dads the same day their house had been destroyed but they would have called them long before now if it was actually true.

"So why would they say they need time to compile it if it's already ready to be sent?" Kakashi asked no one in particular as he read the report over Shikamaru's shoulder. It wasn't very long, only a short missive about how two men, one unconscious and the other one barely so, had arrived at Konoha Security and Law today around 1 pm. The second man had then told them his name was Shiranui, Genma and that he needed to speak with Jiraiya before he passed out from what was believed to be severe blood loss from a wound on his shoulder. A request had been sent out to confirm the identity of the two men since neither of them had been carrying ID's.

Kakashi's heart began racing, he knew he shouldn't get his hopes up but what if? Kakashi knew the security measures at the company and Jiraiya or Tsunade wouldn't be told about the men until they'd been identified. The men had arrived around 1 pm today, shortly after Kakashi and Tenzou, and by then the company would have been in an uproar due to Naruto's kidnapping and the search for the identity of his kidnapper had taken top priority so any other requests had been put on hold. The men, whoever they were, had probably ended up getting lost in the system.

"It's kind of obvious." Shikamaru said.

"What is?" Kakashi wasn't sure what the boy was talking about having completely forgotten the question he'd spoken out loud earlier.

"Do you honestly think that a company like that would hand over _every single file_ they have on something to a group of people who have a record or are suspected of being criminals? They probably wouldn't even have handed over all the files even if it was just you. What they'll do is go over all their information and compile a file with everything they think would be relevant. Personally I thought that would take way too much time to wait for and they're almost certain to miss something that could be important so I decided to just go straight to the main thing instead of waiting for the out-takes."

Kakashi nearly slapped himself, of course ANBU would do something like that. He was just glad he'd decided to come here instead of trying to work over there with them. They might not have made a lot of progress here but he was sure they'd gotten further in their investigation than ANBU because no matter how good the organization was most of their work still had to go through proper legal channels which tended to slow down the process a lot.

"What more have you found?" Kakashi asked Shikamaru.

"Not much, I'm only on the first security level of their system, it'll take a bit longer until I can get access to the files we need."

"But you can do it?"

Kakashi saw Shikamaru smirk for the first time before the boy replied. "Of course I can do it. I told you you'd need my help for something."

"Yeah, yeah. No one likes to hear I told you so _genius_, so just watch yourself."

Shikamaru grunted something that sounded like "Troublesome." But at the same moment Tenzou cried out from the phone.

"It's them!"

The whole room went silent and everyone stopped what they were doing while Tenzou finished the call quickly and hung up.

"Sempai it's them! They're alive!" he shouted excitedly as he came over to his old captain.

Kakashi had to grab hold of the table when the relief washed over him. These were the first good news they'd had so far and as he heaved a huge sigh and pulled himself together he could see the moral in the room increase as they all realized that maybe things weren't so dire after all.

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**The seven Pain 'siblings' (just found out 1 of them is actually a girl) were pretty much just named after the "realm" they use as they don't seem to have any names except for Nagato (I decided not to go with Yahiko as I didn't really fancy having a character similar to Denzel Washington in the bone collector hanging around). It was just way easier than saying "one of the Pains" all the time or trying to come up with descriptions since pretty much all of them have "red hair and piercings" **

**Uchiha Inabi****, Uchiha Tekka, Uchiha Yashiro are the policemen who came to question Itachi about his cousin Shisui in the Anime/Manga.**

**I decided to have Zetsu as a pair of twins since he can split himself in two. The idea was that one of them would be black and the other one would be an albino, I'm not sure I'll get that into the story in the next chapter so now you know. **

**Another random bit of trivia is that I tried to assign the members of Akatsuki roles that fit their abilities in the anime/manga or the description of them. I.E. Konan works with paper = forgerer. Tobi has that whole "things go straight through him" thing and he pretty much duped the whole of akatsuki = Thief and scammer.  
**


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